She garnered 41 per cent of the public vote to claim the title after defeating British Paralympic and reigning world champion Sophie Christiansen and Singapore's most-decorated Paralympic athlete Laurentia Tan to top the podium in the freestyle grade 1a.

London 2012 Paralympian Morganti and her mare Royal Delight also won the silver medal in the individual grade 1a in France.

"I'm so happy that so many have voted for me - it's incredible," she said.

"The support of all these people will be an additional reason to focus on doing the best I can every single day.

"Before the Games in Normandy my dream was to qualify for Rio 2016, but after winning two medals there my dream is now to win a Paralympic medal.

"Obviously Royal Delight will have an extra portion of carrots for this new fantastic achievement."

Morganti beat the likes of Great Britain's seven-time Para-canoe world champion Jeannette Chippington, who came second in the poll with 16 per cent of the vote, and four-time 2014 IPC Swimming European Championships gold medallist Teresa Perales of Spain, who came third with 14 per cent, to take the best athlete crown.

Teresa Perales came third in the race for the IPC Best Female Athlete of the Month for August title with 14 per cent of the vote ©Getty Images


Also shortlisted in the vote were Russia's European and Paralympic athletics champion Margarita Goncharova, Swiss European wheelchair racing champion Manuela Schär and International Association for Disabled Sailing Combined World Championships gold medallist Liesl Tesch of Australia.

Earlier this month, Ukrainian swimmer Yevheniy Bohodayko was named IPC Best Male Athlete of the Month.

The shortlist for the Best Youngster for August is due to be published on the IPC homepage tomorrow.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


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