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FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Evita Griskenas of Orland Park, Ill./North Shore Rhythmic Gymnastics Center, is one of more than 40 athletes and coaches who have been nominated in nine categories for the inaugural Pan American Sports Organization Awards. Voting is underway now for the awards which are based on performances during last summer's 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru. Sports fans, National Olympic Committees, media and even the athletes themselves can vote for who they think made the biggest impact at Lima 2019. The Panam Sports Awards will be held Friday, December 13, 2019, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., at 7 p.m.

Griskenas won the Pan Am Games rhythmic gymnastics gold medals for the all-around, hoop, ball and ribbon, as well as the bronze for clubs. Griskenas is nominated for the NextGen Female Athlete Award. She is vying for the title against Adriana Diaz of Puerto Rico, Katherin Nuevo of Cuba, Delfina Pignatiello of Argentina, Daniella Rosas of Peru, and Yenny Sinisterra of Colombia.

The complete list of nominees for the inaugural Panam Sports Awards is available below.

• Best Male Athlete: Anderson Peters (Grenada), Francisco Barretto (Brazil), Mijain Lopez (Cuba), Nicholas Paul (Trinidad and Tobago), Ruben Limardo (Venezuela)
• Best Female Athlete: Chloe Dygert (USA), Delfina Pignatiello (Argentina), Paola Longoria (Mexico), Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (Jamaica), Yulimar Rojas (Venezuela).
• Best Men's Team: Athletics 4x400m Relay (Colombia), Baseball (Puerto Rico), Basketball (Argentina), Beach Volleyball (Chili)
• Best Women's Team: Artistic Swimming (Canada), Handball (Brazil), Hockey (Argentina), Softball (USA)
• NextGen (U-20 Male): Alison dos Santos (Brazil), Andrew Abruzzo (USA), Daniel Restrepo (Colombia), Gabriel Rosillo (Cuba), Patricio Font (Mexico)
• NextGen (U-20 Female): Adriana Diaz (Puerto Rico), Daniella Rosas (Peru), Delfina Pignatiello (Argentina), Evita Griskenas (USA), Katherin Nuevo (Cuba), Yenny Sinisterra (Colombia)
• Changemaker: Marco Oneto (Chile), Mariana Pajon (Colombia), Jennifer Dahlgren (Argentina), Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (Jamaica)
• Panam Sports Values: Claudio Biekarck (Brazil), Julio Castillo (Ecuador), Krystina Alogbo (Canada), Luis Scola (Argentina), Nathan Adrian (USA)
• Best Coach: Deysiana Mena (Costa Rica), Gabriel Aramburu (Peru), Ivan Bautista (Mexico), Rolando Acebal (Cuba), Stephen Francis (Jamaica)

Visit www.panamsports.org/vote now to vote for your favorite athletes and make your voice heard in Americas' Olympic Movement! Voting is now officially open and will close on November 30.

In total, 15 awards will be given to the best athletes, coaches, media and National Olympic Committees from the 2019 Pan American Games at the Panam Sports Awards. The winners will be announced during the live ceremony and celebration of the Panam Sports Awards on December 13 in Fort Lauderdale, United States. The show will be broadcast live on the Panam Sports Channel.

The Pan American Sports Organization, aka Panam Sports, is the owner of the Pan American Games and the leader of the Olympic movement throughout the American continent. Panam Sports supports and offers resources towards the development of sport throughout its 41 member nations. Panam Sports has successfully overseen 18 editions of the Pan American Games, beginning in 1951 and being held every four years since. The Lima 2019 Pan American Games set records with the most Olympic medalists (100+) and athletes (6,600+) ever in attendance, while also qualifying athletes from 21 sports to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

Panam Sports received nominations for all Awards from the NOC and Sport Confederations of the Americas before utilizing the NOCs and Panam Sports Executive Board Members to create the final shortlist of candidates.