Canoe world champion Peter Pal Kiss is Allianz Athlete of the Month

Peter Pal Kiss’ thrilling gold medal win at the Para Canoe World Championships earned him the votes to be named August’s Allianz Athlete of the Month. 

The 16-year-old delighted the home crowd in Szeged, Hungary, by beating the 2018 world champion Esteban Farias of Italy by 0.75 seconds to take the men’s KL1 world title.

Kiss was first in the public polls with 49 per cent of the votes. British triathlete Claire Cashmore was not far behind with 42 per cent. Brazilian table tennis player Joyce de Oliveira, Indonesian badminton player Leani Ratri Oktila, and Chinese badminton player Qu Zimao were also nominated.  

The 2019 winners are:
 
January – Jeroen Kampschreur, NED, alpine skiing

February – Yujie Li, CHN, taekwondo

March – Lisa Bunschoten, NED, snowboard

April – Michael Roeger, AUS, athletics

May – Koji Sugeno, JPN, wheelchair tennis

June – Antoni Ponce, ESP, swimming

July – Silvia Biasi, ITA, sitting volleyball

August – Peter Pal Kiss, HUN, canoe