Spotakova & Silnov are European Athletes of the Month for September – European Athletics (EAA) NEWS

Olympic Champions Barbora Spotakova (Czech Republic) and Andrey Silnov (Russia) have been voted the European Athletes of the Month for September.

27-year-old Spotakova, who added the Olympic Javelin title in Beijing to her world title won in Osaka last year set a new World Record of 72.28m to win the IAAF World Athletics final in Stuttgart in the middle of the month.

The former heptathlete, who finished 4th in the World Junior Championships in 2008 has a heptathlon best of 5,793 points from the same year, added 86cm to the European record she set in Beijing a month earlier.

Already voted the European Athlete of the Month in May this year, she won 12 of her top class competitions in 2008 and has set her sights to be an able successor to her fellow countryman Jan Zelezny, who won 3 Olympic gold’s and one silver medal.

Silnov on the other hand maintained his form with ease after Beijing, winning all three of his final competitions in September including the Lausanne Grand Prix, the Russian Challenge in Moscow and the IAAF World Athletics Final in Stuttgart.

The 24-year-old had mother luck on his side this season as he initially finished 4th in the Russian trials in July but followed this up with a seasons best of 2.38m to win the London Grand Prix a week later to force a rethink of the selection policy; something the Russian selectors must be thanking their lucky stars for.

The 2006 European High Jump Champion has already declared his intention to compete in the European Athletics Indoor Championships in Torino and on his 2008 form he will take some beating.

The runners-up in the women’s poll were Yelena Isinbayeva and Blanka Vlasic while the runners up in the men’s poll were Latvian Vadims Vasilevskis and Poland’s Tomasz Majewski.

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 will name a male and female winner each month and feature 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% of the final vote.

Sept     Andrey Silnov RUS              Barbora Špotáková CZE
Aug      No poll due to Athlete of the Year voting
July      Martyn Rooney  GBR          Yelena Isinbayeva  RUS
June      Phillips Idowu GBR            Blanka Vlasic CRO  
May      Andreas Thorkildsen NOR   Barbora Špotáková CZE
Apr       Selim Bayrak  TUR              Elvan Abeylegesse  TUR
Mar      Stefan Holm  SWE               Yelena Soboleva RUS
Feb      Viktor Roethlin SUI             Susanna Kallur SWE  
Jan       Nelson Evora  POR             Susanna Kallur SWE