Björn Otto voted September European Athletes of the Month

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Otto and Špotáková voted September's European Athletes of the Month

Tuesday, 23 October 2012

By Mike Rowbottom

October 23 - Germany's pole vaulter Björn Otto and the Czech Republic's Barbora Špotáková have been voted as the European Athletes of the Month for September.

Otto (pictured top), 34, capped a great summer, during which he won silver medals at the 2012 European Athletics Championships and London 2012 Olympic Games, with a world leading jump of 6.01 metres in the Domspringen, a special pole vault meeting, in Aachen on September 5.

It was not only the best pole vault in the world this year but a German record, displacing Tim Lobinger's 15-year-old mark of 6.00m from the summit of the German all-time rankings.

Špotáková, who successfully defended her Olympic gold London 2012, threw 66.91m for an easy win at the Samsung Diamond League final in Brussels on September 7 and with that she also won the Diamond Race in javelin with 26 points.

Belgium's Hans Van Alphen, fourth-place finisher at this summer's Olympic Games, won the decathlon title at the famous Talence multi-events meeting in France with 8,293 points on September 16 and was voted second in the men's poll.

British sprint prodigy Adam Gemili, the 2012 World Junior Championships 100m winner, ran 20.38 at the Junior League National Final in Derby on September 9, the fastest time by a European junior since 2009, and followed Van Alphen in the men's voting.

European and Olympic discus champion Sandra Perković of Croatia extended her winning streak to six competitions this season with a throw of 65.79m in Zagreb on September 4 and for her performance she was voted second in the women's poll ahead of high jumper Svetlana Shkolina of Russia.

The 2012 Olympic Games bronze medallist jumped 2.01m to win in Rieti, Italy, on September 4 and three days later cleared 2.00m to win at the Samsung Diamond League final in Brussels.