The contest is split into four categories - recurve men, recurve women, compound men and compound women - with each consisting of a five-person shortlist. 

In the former, Dalmeida, known the "Neymar of Archery" in his native Brazil, is up against the man who beat him in thrilling fashion in the gold medal match of September's World Cup Final in Lausanne, Brady Ellison of the United States. 

World champion and world ranked number one Lee Seungyun of South Korea is among the other challenges, along with Italy's Mauro Nespoli and Rick Van der Ven of The Netherlands.

In the corresponding women's event, Mexico's Aida Roman will be a favourite after a year in which she won World Cup and World Indoor titles, with opposition provided by Nanjing 2014 Summer Youth Olympic individual and team winner Li Jiaman of China, as well as South Korea's Jung Dasomi, India's Deepika Kumari and Germany's Lisa Unruh.

Mexico's Aida Roman will be another leading awards contender following a golden year ©Getty Images



World Cup Final winners Bridger Deaton of the US and Sarah Lopez of Colombia will be leading contenders in the two compound events, with respective runner-up Pierre Julien Deloche and Erika Jones, of France and the US respectively, among the opposition.

Voting is due to close on December 31, before an Awards Gala on February 6 in Las Vegas during the Indoor Archery World Cup Final and The Vegas Shoot.

As well as the athlete competitions, awards will also be handed out for Volunteer and Photographer of the Year, with the public urged to submit their own images for the latter competition.

"We hope that archers from around the world are empowered to thank volunteers in their own communities who gift time, passion and expertise to our sport," said World Archery secretary general Tom Dielen.

More information on how to vote is available here. 

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


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