The Iranian’s record-breaking lift helped him win this month’s award by a landslide.
Siamand Rahman’s record-breaking lift garnered him the most votes to name him the Allianz Athlete of the Month for July 2015.
The
Iranian proved his status as the strongest Paralympian in the world
after lifting 295kg at the 2015 IPC Powerlifting Asian Open
Championships in Almaty, Kazakhstan. With the feat, Rahman has now
broken the men’s over 107kg world record eight times in the span of 15
months, including three times each at the World Championships in April
2014 and October’s Incheon 2014 Asian Para Games. He is expected to save
the big lift of 300kg for the big stage at Rio 2016.
Rahman
collected an overwhelming 81 per cent of July’s votes. Also nominated in
this month’s polls were Brazilian swimmer Daniel Dias (8 per cent),
British sprinter Sophie Hahn (2 per cent), Rwandan sitting volleyball
player Lilian Mukobwankabo (5 per cent) and British wheelchair tennis
player Jordanne Whiley (4 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