Moran Samuel named September’s Allianz Athlete of the Month

Israel’s Moran Samuel has been named the Allianz Athlete of the Month for September after winning her first world title at the 2015 World Rowing Championships.

Samuel upgraded the silver medal she won from last year’s World Championships. The Israeli battled through windy, wavy conditions at the 2015 edition in the women’s AS single sculls final in Aiguebelette, France, completing the 1,000m course in 5:25.92 for the win. Her time was enough to edge Great Britain’s Rachel Morris, who finished not far behind in 5:27.02, and Norway’s defending world champion Birgit Skarstein (5:31.94). Samuel’s performance topped off the gold medal she won at the World Cup in June at Varese, Italy.

Samuel collected 57 per cent of the votes. Canadian para-triathlete Stefan Daniel came in second in the polls with 18 per cent, followed by Germany’s Marina Mohnen (12 per cent), Great Britain’s Jordanne Whiley (8 per cent), Nigeria’s Esther Oyema (5 per cent) and China’s Xu Feng Zou (1 per cent).

The previous winners from 2015 were:

January – Andrew Soule, USA, Nordic skiing

February – Chris Vos, the Netherlands, snowboard

March – Maksym Nikolenko, Ukraine, table tennis

April – Nigel Murray, Great Britain, boccia

May – Martina Caironi, Italy, athletics

June – Eduard Ramonov, Russia, football 7-a-side

July – Siamand Rahman, Iran, powerlifting

August – Trevor Hirschfield, Canada, wheelchair rugby