Vromant won the men’s Performance of the Year award in recognition of his record-breaking display to win gold in the 3 kilometres individual pursuit at the Para-Cycling Track World Championships in Milton in Canada.

Belgian cycling great Eddy Merckx, a winner of five Tour de France titles, was on hand to announce Vromant as the winner as he saw off competition from athletics pair Peter Genyn and Roger Habsch and wheelchair tennis player Joachim Gérard.

In the women’s category, visually impaired cyclist Hoet and pilot Monsieur received the top prize from Jannie Haek, chief executive of the National Lottery.

The award recognised the pair’s performance at the World Championships in Canada where they achieved bronze in the 3km pursuit and silver in the sprint.

Manon Claeys and Michèle George, who compete in Para-equestrian events, and badminton player Man-Kei were among the nominees.

Sixteen-year-old Tatyana Lebrun was voted Talent of the Year after going up against fellow swimmer Jarno Thierens, cyclist Milan Thomas and athletics ace Jaad Van Kauter.

Pieter Timmers, a silver medallist in swimming at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, congratulated Lebrun on her award.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Belgian Paralympic Committee (BPC) decided to adjust the format of the annual ceremony by only presenting individual awards.

BPC chair Anne d'Ieteren spoke about preparations for Tokyo 2020 at the event which was presented by Maureen Louys and Guillaume Gobert.

The ceremony also featured a video of several Paralympian reflecting on the challenges posed over the past year due to the COVID-19 crisis and sharing their enthusiasm for this year’s Games with viewers.