“I did the job I had to do by winning the race and I was very happy with first place."

France’s Yannick Bourseaux was voted the International Paralympic Committee’s (IPC) Athlete of the Month for October by the public on www.paralympic.org after winning his second para-triathlon world title in Auckland, New Zealand, last month.

Bourseaux claimed his second career title in the men’s TRI-4 at the Para-Triathlon World Championships on 22 October, finishing the race in a time of 54:30.

“I did the job I had to do by winning the race and I was very happy with first place,” Bourseaux said.

The 37-year-old is a dual sport athlete in para-triathlon and nordic skiing, so he is hoping to qualify for both the Sochi 2014 and Rio 2016 Paralympic Games.

“It’s good to train for triathlon in summer to prepare for the winter season,” Bourseaux said.

“When it’s summer, I like riding my bike in the mountains. In winter, I like cross-country skiing in the mountains, too.

“I think training for triathlon is like a way of life. When you love what you do, it’s not a problem.”

Bourseaux competed in biathlon and cross-country skiing at the Torino 2006 and Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Winter Games, but he has yet to win a Paralympic medal.

The next major competition on his calendar is the 2013 IPC Nordic Skiing World Championships from 25 February – 5 March in Solleftea, Sweden.

Bourseaux received 45 per cent of the public’s vote to beat USA’s para-triathlete Melissa Stockwell, who finished with 39 per cent of the vote. Swiss wheelchair racer Marcel Hug, South African wheelchair tennis player Kgothatso Montjane and Jamaican field athlete Alphanso Cunningham were also up for the monthly award.

He was previously an able-bodied triathlete prior to his accident in 2004, in which he fell off a ledge in the French alps on his bike, leaving him with a paralysed right arm.