World Champion Archer Danielle Brown Wins IPC Athlete of the Month

Great Britain’s world and Paralympic champion archer Danielle Brown has won the public vote to become the International Paralympic Committee’s (IPC) ‘Athlete of The Month’ for July.

Brown won gold in the Individual Compound Open at the Para-archery World Championships in Turin, Italy, as well as two silvers in the Team Compound Open, thereby qualifying for the London 2012 Paralympic Games.

She has been nominated several times for the prestigious award, but after securing 29 percent of the vote via the IPC’s official Facebook page this is the first time she has claimed the title.

She beat off stiff competition from the Dutch Wheelchair Tennis duo Maikel Scheffers and Ronald Vink who got 16% of the public vote. Scheffers and Vink won the men's doubles at the British Open and Wimbledon, Great Britain.

Also with 16% of the public vote was Switzerland’s World Champion archer Philippe Horner and the Russian CPISRA 7-a-side football team, who defeated Iran 6-1 in the final of the CPISRA 7-a-side Football World Championships in the Netherlands.

Another contender for the ‘Athlete of the Month’ award was Spanish swimming sensation Sarai Gascon. The 19-year-old, who won seven medals at the IPC Swimming European Championships – four of which were golds - gained 10 percent of the public vote.

Other shortlisted candidates for July’s award included the Ukrainian swimming duo of Yevheniy Bohodayko and Dmytro Vynohradets, Hungary’s Wheelchair Fencing European Champion Zsuzsanna Krajnyak and French Fencer Romain Noble.

Previous winners of the award in 2011 are as follows:

• January – Yon Santacana (Spain’s World Champion Alpine Skier)

• February – Italy’s IPC Ice Sledge Hockey European Champions

• March – Neil Fachie (Great Britain’s World Champion Track Cyclist)

• April – Mikhalina Lysova (Russia’s World Champion Biathlon and Cross Country Skier)

• May – Kristy Pond (Australia’s Gold medals winner in the Arafura Games - Athletics)

• June – Zoe Newson (Great Britain’s Junior World Champion Powerlifting)