For the second month in a row, German javelin thrower Thomas Röhler has been voted European Athlete of the Month while Jessica Ennis-Hill scooped the accolade on the women’s side.
Voting for European Athlete of the Month took place through our European Athletics Twitter and Facebook pages over the past week. Athletes with the most combined Twitter ‘retweets’ and Facebook ‘likes’ and ‘shares’ were crowned the winners.
Röhler held the world-leading mark coming into the month with 87.37m but the 24-year-old improved his mark three times over the course of his six competitions in June. After throwing 87.91m in Jena, Röhler improved to 89.30m at the Bislett Games in Oslo five days later in front of a full house which included the recently retired Norwegian great Andreas Thorkildsen.
Javelin throwing is almost a national institution in Finland and Röhler saved his best mark of his young career for an appreciative crowd at the Paavo Nurmi Games in Turku on 29 June. After opening with 89.34m, Röhler launched the speer beyond the 90-metre line for the first time in the second round with 91.28m.
After a brilliant June, German javelin thrower Thomas Rohler has been voted male #athleteofthemonth! pic.twitter.com/jaTP2DTIjZ
— European Athletics (@EuroAthletics) July 5, 2016
His second throw over that magical mark was to follow just a few minutes later as the world fourth-placer went out to 91.04m in the fifth round to put himself in very esteemed company. Only world record-holder and three-time Olympic champion Jan Zelezny has surpassed the 91m-line twice in the same competition.
Meanwhile, Ennis-Hill showed she is on course for a successful defence of her Olympic heptathlon title in Rio de Janeiro next month.
In a competition marred by heavy rain, Ennis-Hill defeated the top German multi-eventers on their turf in Ratingen on 25-26 June with a European-leading score of 6733 points to move to a close second on the world rankings behind Canada’s Brianne Theisen-Eaton.
Ennis-Hill’s score was in excess of her winning total from the 2015 World Championships and her best score since the 2012 Olympics.
After setting a European heptathlon lead in Ratingen, Jessica Ennis-Hill has been voted female #athleteofthemonth! pic.twitter.com/yI3drMlJtA
— European Athletics (@EuroAthletics) July 5, 2016