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| Zuzana Hejnova of the Czech Republic has been voted European Athlete of the Month for May. (Getty Images) |
European Athletics is pleased to announce that Czech 400m hurdles star Zuzana Hejnova and upcoming Ukrainian high jumper Bohdan Bondarenko have been voted as European Athletes of the Month for May.
The Czech Republic's Hejnova has been in sensational form this season. The London 2012 Olympic Games bronze medallist ran a world-leading time of 53.79 when winning at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Shanghai on 18 May. She remained unbeaten over 400m hurdles during the month of May.
Former world junior and defending European under-23 champion Bondarenko has shown plenty of signs of coming of age this season. He was at his best when he executed an excellent series of successful first-time jumps of 2.19m, 2.24m, 2.27m and 2.30m at the Diamond League in Doha. He
eventually won the event ahead of in-form Qatari high jumper Mutaz Barshim with a personal best and a European season-leading jump of 2.33m.
A week later at the Diamond League meeting in Shanghai, he equalled his personal best but lost out to Barshim on countback. The two performances however were sufficient to bring him maximum votes in the European Athlete of the Month poll.
Reigning European and Olympic discus champion Sandra Perkovic of Croatia threw a world-leading distance of 68.48m to win at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in New York on 25 May and was voted second in the women's poll. Olympic high jump champion Anna Chicherova of Russia, who became the first women to scale two metres outdoors this season when she cleared a world-leading height of 2.02m at the World Challenge meeting in Beijing on 21 May, completed the top three.
In the men's poll, the 2013 European Athletics Indoor Championships gold medallist Aleksandr Menkov, who produced a personal best and world-leading mark of 8.39m at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Eugene on 31 May, was voted second. Germany's Robert Harting, the reigning Olympic and world champion, who opened his 2013 campaign with 68.13m in Wiesbaden on 19 May and extended his winning streak to 34 competitions, stretching back to 2010, finished third.
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. No athlete who has previously served a two-year doping ban can be nominated for the European Athlete of the Month.
Previous winners
| Month | Male | Country | Female | Country |
| January | Renaud Lavillenie | FRA | Alessia Trost | ITA |
| February | Renaud Lavillenie | FRA | Nevin Yanit | TUR |
| March | Tero Pitkamaki | FIN | Fionnuala Britton | IRL |
| April | Maicel Uibo | EST | Lisa Stublic | CRO |