Jessica Cérival (born 20 January 1982 in Quimper, Finistère) is a French track and field athlete who specialises in the

shot put The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. The shot put competition for men has been a part of the modern Olympics since their revival in 1896, and women's ...

. She attended her first major competition in 2007, the

2007 European Athletics Indoor Championships The 2007 European Athletics Indoor Championships were held in the National Indoor Arena (NIA) in Birmingham, England, from Friday, 2 March to Sunday, 4 March 2007. Birmingham also held the 2003 IAAF World Indoor Championships. Men's results Track ...

, and she finished seventh overall. She took part in the following edition in

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

but was knocked out in the qualifying round.Cérival Jessica

IAAF World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body for ...

. Retrieved on 2010-04-01. In spite of this, 2009 turned out to be a significant progression for the athlete. She became the French national champion and went on to take the shot put gold at the

2009 Mediterranean Games The 2009 Mediterranean Games, officially the XVI Mediterranean Games ( it, XVI Giochi del Mediterraneo) and commonly known as Pescara 2009, was a multi-sport event held in Pescara, Italy, from 26 June to 5 July 2009. It was governed by the Inte ...

, becoming the first French women in thirty years to take the title. She was selected for the French team at the

2009 World Championships in Athletics The 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics () were held in Berlin, Germany from 15–23 August 2009. The majority of events took place in the Olympiastadion, while the marathon and racewalking events started and finished at the Brandenburg ...

and she finished eleventh. She closed the year with a silver medal behind

Anca Heltne Anca Margareta Heltne, née Vîlceanu (born 1 January 1978 in Câmpulung) is a Romanian shot putter. She has an indoor personal best of , achieved in February 2010 in Bucharest. She represented her country at the 2008 Summer Olympics. She finish ...

at the

2009 Jeux de la Francophonie The 2009 Jeux de la Francophonie (''6th Francophone Games''), was an international multi-sport event held from 27 September to 6 October in Beirut, Lebanon. Organization The organization of the Jeux de la Francophonie is entrusted by the local a ...

.Vazel, P-J (2009-10-02)
El Ghazaly heads double success for Egypt - Francophone Games, Day 1

. Retrieved on 2009-10-03. She came fourth at the

2011 European Athletics Indoor Championships The 2011 European Athletics Indoor Championships were held at the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy in Paris, France, from 4 to 6 March 2011. 577 athletes representing 46 countries competed at the championships. Twenty-six track and field events we ...

and was the silver medallist at the

2011 European Cup Winter Throwing The 2011 European Cup Winter Throwing was held on 19 and 20 March 2011 at the National Sports Academy in Sofia, Bulgaria. It was the eleventh edition of the athletics competition for throwing events and was jointly organised by the European Athlet ...

outdoors. She represented France at the

2012 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 2012 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics was the 14th edition of the global-level indoor track and field competition and was held between March 9–11, 2012 at the Ataköy Athletics Arena in Istanbul, Turkey. It was the first of four ...

, but did not progress beyond the qualifiers.

Competition record

References

External links

Photos from Mediterranean Games
from ''Life'' 1982 births Living people French female shot putters Mediterranean Games gold medalists for France Athletes (track and field) at the 2009 Mediterranean Games Mediterranean Games medalists in athletics Competitors at the 2007 Summer Universiade Sportspeople from Quimper {{France-shotput-bio-stub