Martina Caironi named May’s Allianz Athlete of the Month

Italy’s Martina Caironi has been voted the Allianz Athlete of the Month for May 2015 after rewriting the record books in the women’s 100m, 200m and long jump T42 events.

At the IPC Athletics Grand Prix in Nottwil, Switzerland, the 25-year-old clocked 15.15 in the 100m, which was .03 seconds faster than her previous world record time set two years ago. She followed that up by beating her own world record in the 200m with a time of 32.32.

Earlier in the month, the Italian also leapt 4.60m at a meet in Barcelona, Spain, to equal the long jump T42 world record.

It was a tight race in the May polls between Caironi (35 per cent) and the Netherlands’ Marlou van Rhijn (32 per cent), who also broke 100m and 200m world records in Nottwil.

Also nominated in May’s poll were Australian wheelchair tennis player Dylan Alcott (16 per cent), USA ice sledge hockey player Josh Pauls (12 per cent) and Dutch triathlete Jetze Plat (6 per cent).

The previous winners from 2015 were:

January – Andrew Soule, USA, Nordic skiing

February – Chris Vos, the Netherlands, Snowboard

March – Maksym Nikolenko, Ukraine, Table tennis

April – Nigel Murray, Great Britain, Boccia