Mehrzadselakjani named July Allianz Athlete of the Month

Morteza Mehrzadselakjani has been named the Allianz Athlete of the Month for July after his spectacular performance in Iran’s gold medal victory at the 2018 Sitting Volleyball World Championships.

At 2.46m tall, Mehrzadselakjani was at his dominant best to help Iran regain the men’s world title by beating defending champions Bosnia and Herzegovina 3-0 (25-18, 25-13, 25-20) in the final held in the Netherlands.

Mehrzadselakjani received 60 per cent of the public votes. Brazilian thrower Elizabeth Gomes was second in the polls with 35 per cent. Swedish wheelchair tennis player Stefan Olsson, British wheelchair racer Kare Adenegan, and Dutch wheelchair tennis player Diede de Groot were also nominated.

The 2018 winners are:

January – Oksana Masters, USA, Nordic skiing

February – Mac Marcoux, CAN, alpine skiing

March (Best Male) – Brian McKeever, CAN, Nordic skiing

March (Best Female) – Ekaterina Rumyantseva, NPA, Nordic skiing

March (Best Team) – Chinese wheelchair curling team

April – Gemma Collis-McCann, GBR, wheelchair fencing

May – Sareh Javanmardi, IRI, shooting

June – Sevda Altunoluk, TUR, goalball

July – Morteza Mehrzadselakjani