Medell named Allianz Athlete of the Month for May

The USA’s Evan Medell has been voted as the Allianz Athlete of the Month for May after his performance at the Oceania Para Taekwondo Open in Auckland, New Zealand.

The 20 year old caused a major upset at the Oceania Open by defeating Croatia’s world No. 1 Ivan Mikulic for gold in the men’s over 75kg K44. The victory bumped him up one spot to No. 4 in the latest world rankings.

Medell received 49 per cent of the public votes. US wheelchair racer Cassie Mitchell came in second with 42 per cent. Brazilian table tennis player Bruna Costa Alexandre, Thai boccia player Watharaphon Vongsa and Chinese wheelchair tennis player Zhenzhen Zhu were also nominated.

The 2017 winners so far are:

January –Jeroen Kampschreur, Netherlands, alpine skiing

February – Veronika Vadovicova, Slovakia, shooting

March – Maria Paula Barrera, Colombia, swimming

April – Jean Claude Niringiyimana, Rwanda, taekwondo

May – Evan Medell, USA, taekwondo