Siamand Rahman’s record-breaking lift garnered him the most votes to name him the Allianz Athlete of the Month for July 2015.

The Iranian proved his status as the strongest Paralympian in the world after lifting 295kg at the 2015 IPC Powerlifting Asian Open Championships in Almaty, Kazakhstan. With the feat, Rahman has now broken the men’s over 107kg world record eight times in the span of 15 months, including three times each at the World Championships in April 2014 and October’s Incheon 2014 Asian Para Games. He is expected to save the big lift of 300kg for the big stage at Rio 2016.

Rahman collected an overwhelming 81 per cent of July’s votes. Also nominated in this month’s polls were Brazilian swimmer Daniel Dias (8 per cent), British sprinter Sophie Hahn (2 per cent), Rwandan sitting volleyball player Lilian Mukobwankabo (5 per cent) and British wheelchair tennis player Jordanne Whiley (4 per cent).

The previous winners from 2015 were:

January – Andrew Soule, USA, nordic skiing

February – Chris Vos, the Netherlands, snowboard

March – Maksym Nikolenko, Ukraine, table tennis

April – Nigel Murray, Great Britain, boccia

May – Martina Caironi, Italy, athletics

June – Eduard Ramonov, Russia, football 7-a-side