Morteza Mehrzadselakjani’s star continues to shine bright after being named the International Paralympic Committee Allianz Athlete of the Month for July after his spectacular performance in Iran’s gold medal victory at the 2018 World ParaVolley Sitting Volleyball Men’s World Championship in the Netherlands last month.

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.

Mehrzadselakjani, who made his international debut in 2016, received 60 per cent of the public votes to win the award for the first time. 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, IRI, sitting volleyball

For more info visit Paralympic.org