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December 2009
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Farah, Monteiro named European Athletes of the Month for October |
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20.11.2009 |
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Mo Farah of Great Britain is the European Athlete of
the Month for October.
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European Athletics is pleased
to announce that Mo
Farah of Great Britain
and Potugal's Inês Monteiro have been selected as the
European Athletes of the Month for October.
Farah, a silver medallist at the 2008 SPAR European Cross Country
Championships, produced a remarkable performance to clinch a thrilling win at
the Great South Run in Portsmouth
in October.
After trailing South African Stephen
Mokoka by nearly 20 metres with less than two miles to go, the 26-year-old
pulled off a remarkable sprint in the last 150 metres to pip Mokoka by the
thinnest of margins to win the men's title in 46.25 seconds.
Farah's win also made him the first Briton to win the Great South Run since
Gary Staines scored his third and final victory in 1996. The victory not only
provided him the perfect boost ahead of next month's SPAR European Cross Country
Championships in Dublin
but also makes him the European Athlete of the Month for October.
Tenacity is the middle name of Monteiro.
The 29-year-old demonstrated commanding form on the road, winning the Great
South Run in Portsmouth and the Half Marathon
title in Ovar, Portugal.
Monteiro, a bronze medallist at the
2008 SPAR European Cross Country Championships in Brussels, will be gunning for glory at the
2009 edition of the continental showpiece on 13 December.
Portugal's Hermano Ferreira and
Iaroslav Musinschi of Moldova followed Farah, in that order, in the
men's polls, while Liliya Shobukhova of Russia and Karolina
Jarzynska of Poland were voted likewise in the women's polls.
The European Athlete of the Month
initiative was launched in January 2007 and is designed to recognise
outstanding performers at all levels of the sport in Europe.
European Athletics names a male and female winner each month and features the
athlete on the European Athletics website. Selections are based on votes by the
public, the media and a panel of European Athletics experts, with each counting
for 33.3 percent of the final vote.
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Inês Monteiro of Portugal.
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No athlete who has previously served
a two-year doping ban can be nominated for or win the European Athlete of the
Month.
Previous Winners:
| Month |
Male
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Country |
Female |
Country |
| September |
Primož Kozmus |
SLO |
Blanka Vlašić |
CRO |
| July |
Tomasz Majewski
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POL |
Marta Domínguez |
ESP |
| June |
Renaud Lavillenie |
FRA |
Ariane Friedrich |
GER |
| May |
Nelson Évora |
POR |
Jessica Ennis
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GBR |
April
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Gerd Kanter
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EST |
Irina Mikitenko
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GER |
| March |
Sebastian Bayer
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GER |
Ariane Friedrich
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GER |
| February |
Yelena Isinbayeva
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RUS |
Ivan Ukhov
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RUS |
| January |
Mo Farah
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GBR |
Blanka Vlasic
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CRO |
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