Lisa Bunschoten is Allianz Athlete of the Month

The Netherlands’ Lisa Bunschoten has been voted the Allianz Athlete of the Month for March after securing her first major career titles.

The 23-year-old was the outstanding female athlete of the World Para Snowboard Championships in Pyha, Finland. She captured both snowboard-cross and banked slalom SB-LL2 gold medals, a breakthrough moment in her young career.

Bunschoten received 30.35 per cent of the public vote. The polls were tight, with Chinese wheelchair curler Haitao Wang (27) and Australian track cyclist Paige Greco (25) close by.

Argentinian blind football player Maximiliano Espinillo was fourth with 11 per cent, followed by French snowboarder Maxime Montaggioni (6).

Bunschoten is the second Dutch athlete to be named Allianz Athlete of the Month in the first three months of 2019. Alpine skier Jeroen Kampschreur won the voting in January for his performances at the World Para Alpine Skiing Championships.

The 2019 winners are:

January – Jeroen Kampschreur, NED, alpine skiing

February – Yujie Li, CHN, taekwondo

March – Lisa Bunschoten, NED, snowboard