Petrucio Ferreira named July’s Allianz Athlete of the Month

Brazil’s Petrucio Ferreira has been voted the Allianz Athlete of the Month for July after smashing both his own world records at the World Para Athletics Championships London 2017.

The 20-year-old sprinter lowered his own 100m T47 world record that he set at Rio 2016, before completing a sprint double with another world record in the 200m.

London 2017 and Wimbledon brought forth a tight race in polls. Ferreira received 40 per cent of the public votes, with Swedish wheelchair tennis player Stefan Olsson chasing at 37 per cent. Danish track and field star Daniel Wagner was third with 19 per cent. Dutch wheelchair tennis player Diede de Groot and US wheelchair racer Tatyana McFadden were also on the shortlist.

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

June – Alfie Hewett, Great Britain, wheelchair tennis

July – Petrucio Ferreira, Brazil, athletics