Korean wheelchair rugby player named IPC Athlete of Month for Aug.

South Korean wheelchair rugby player Park U-cheol has been named the International Paralympic Committee's Athlete of the Month for August, officials here said Wednesday.

The Korea Paralympic Committee said that Park won the IPC's monthly award after receiving 61 percent of the votes, edging out other athletes, such as British canoeist Emma Wiggs and South African sprinter Ntando Mahlangu. 

This photo, provided by the Korea Paralympic Committee on Sept. 13, 2017, shows wheelchair rugby player Park U-cheol, who was named the International Paralympic Committee (IPC)`s Athlete of the Month for August. (Yonhap)

Park, 18, was named the Most Valuable Player at the International Wheelchair Rugby Federation Asia-Oceania Championship in New Zealand last month even though South Korea lost in the bronze medal game.

Park, who has spinal muscular atrophy, previously represented South Korea at the 2014 Incheon Asian Para Games and won the silver medal. He is the third South Korean to win the IPC's Athlete of the Month award, after shooter Sim Jae-yong and ice sledge hockey player Jung Seung-hwan. (Yonhap)