Emory professor and two-time Paralympian Cassie Mitchell has been nominated as the May 2017 International Paralympic Committee Allianz athlete of the month. 

Mitchell is among five Paralympic athletes from around the world shortlisted for the international recognition, which will be decided by online voting. The public may vote daily through June 8.

An internationally decorated athlete in the T51 class, Mitchell 04G 09PhD qualified to compete at the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro last summer, where she earned a silver medal in the discus throw and a bronze medal in the club throw.

The Rio competition marked Mitchell’s second trip to the Paralympic Games. Her appearance at the London 2012 Paralympics brought a fourth-place finish.

Mitchell, a research professor in biomedical engineering at the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, a partnership between Georgia Tech and Emory, is also a patient at the Winship Cancer Institute.

A few months before her 2016 Paralympic performance, she was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia, a form of cancer based in certain blood-forming cells of the bone marrow.

Mitchell was nominated for this month’s athletic honor for breaking a 28-year-old world record (T51 1500m) at the Desert Challenge Track & Field Grand Prix held in Arizona in May. The T51 athlete clocked 6:25.19 in the 1,500m T33/34/51, knocking 1:34.61 off the previous mark which had stood since 1989.

Over the past four years, she’s achieved world records in the women’s shot put, as well as the T51 100-meter, 200-meter and 400-meter wheelchair races. She also holds several American records.

Online voting continues through Thursday on the right-hand side of the Paralympic homepage. Nominations were compiled from submissions by National Paralympic Committees and International Federations.

Learn more about the Allianz athlete of the month program.