The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) has announced that the public voted on www.paralympic.org to name Blake Leeper, a sprinter on the U.S. Paralympic track and field team, the IPC Athlete of the Month for July after he tied South African Oscar Pistorius’ world-record time of 10.91 seconds in the 100m T43 class.
Leeper tied the benchmark at the Boiling Point Track Classic in Windsor, Canada, on July 14.
He received 46 percent of the vote, with British equestrian rider Sophie Wells and Polish table tennis player Natalia Partyka finishing second and third, respectively.
Leeper, 22, is a bilateral transtibial amputee. He will compete in his first Paralympic Games later this month.
With a previous personal-best run of 11.2 in June and another top mark in July at the U.S. Paralympics Track and Field trials in Indianapolis, Indiana, where he set an American record with a time of 10.95 seconds, the IPC said that Leeper is now a true contender for the 100m T43/44 title at 2012 London Paralympics, “which many are calling the biggest race of the Games.”
