Louise Maraval (born 31 July 2001) is a French hurdler and sprinter. In 2023, she became French national champion over

400 metres hurdles The 400 metres hurdles is a track and field hurdling event. The event has been on the Olympic athletics programme since 1900 for men and since 1984 for women. On a standard outdoor track, 400 metres is the length of the inside lane, once a ...

. In 2024, she won the silver medal at the

European Championships The European Championships is a multi-sport tournament which brings together the existing European Championships of some of the continent's leading sports every four years. The inaugural edition in 2018 was staged by the host cities of Berlin, ...

Career

She runs for Entente Sèvre in

Saint-Laurent-sur-Sèvre Saint-Laurent-sur-Sèvre (, literally ''Saint-Laurent on Sèvre'') is a commune in the Vendée department in the Pays de la Loire region in western France. Pilgrimage Some 25,000 visitors per year arrive at the town, for it is the burial place ...

in the

Vendée Vendée (; br, Vande) is a department in the Pays de la Loire region in Western France, on the Atlantic coast. In 2019, it had a population of 685,442.

department of the

Pays de la Loire Pays de la Loire (; ; br, Broioù al Liger) is one of the 18 regions of France, in the west of the mainland. It was created in the 1950s to serve as a zone of influence for its capital, Nantes, one of a handful of "balancing metropolises" (). ...

region. She was a silver medalist in the 4x400m relay at the

2021 European Athletics U23 Championships The 2021 European Athletics U23 Championships are the 13th edition of the biennial athletics competition between European athletes under the age of twenty-three. It was planned to be held in Bergen, Norway from 8 to 11 July., but this venue was c ...

Tallinn Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju ' ...

. In February 2023, she was runner-up in the 400 metres at the French indoor championships in Aubiere. She was a silver medalist in the 400 metres hurdles at the

2023 European Athletics U23 Championships The 2023 European Athletics U23 Championships were the 14th edition of the biennial athletics competition between European athletes under the age of twenty three. The event was organized by European Athletics Association and held from 13–16 Ju ...

Espoo Espoo (, ; sv, Esbo) is a city and municipality in the region of Uusimaa in the Republic of Finland. It is located on the northern shore of the Gulf of Finland, bordering the cities of Helsinki, Vantaa, Kirkkonummi, Vihti and Nurmijärvi ...

. At the championships she also won gold anchoring the French team in the women's 4x400m relay. She won the French national title in the 400m hurdles in July 2023 in

Albi Albi (; oc, Albi ) is a commune in southern France. It is the prefecture of the Tarn department, on the river Tarn, 85 km northeast of Toulouse. Its inhabitants are called ''Albigensians'' (french: Albigeois, Albigeoise(s), oc, albig� ...

. She competed for France at the

2023 World Athletics Championships The 2023 World Athletics Championships ( hu, 2023-as atlétikai világbajnokság), the nineteenth edition of the World Athletics Championships, are scheduled to be held from 19 August to 27 August 2023 in Budapest, Hungary. The city of Budapes ...

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

as part of the French mixed 4 × 400 m relay which set a new national record in 3:12:25 and finished in fourth place in the final. She ran as part of the French Mixed 4x400m relay team which qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics at the 2024 World Relays Championships in

Nassau, Bahamas Nassau ( ) is the capital and largest city of the Bahamas. With a population of 274,400 as of 2016, or just over 70% of the entire population of the Bahamas, Nassau is commonly defined as a primate city, dwarfing all other towns in the country. ...

. In May 2024, Maraval moved to second in the all-time French list for the 400m hurdles, behind

Marie-José Pérec Marie-José Pérec (born 9 May 1968) is a retired French track and field sprinter who specialised in the 200 and 400 metres and is a three-time Olympic gold medalist. Athletics career Pérec won the 1991 World Championships 400 metres title ...

, by running 54.44 in

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

. In doing so she also achieved the qualifying standard for the 2024 Paris Olympics. On 10 June 2024, she ran a personal best 54.36 to qualify for the final at the

2024 European Athletics Championships The 26th European Athletics Championships will be held from 7 to 12 June 2024 at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Italy. It will be the third time Italy has staged this sporting the event after the inaugural 1934 edition in Turin, for men only, and t ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. In the final she came away with the silver medal behind

Femke Bol Femke Bol (; born 23 February 2000) is a Dutch track and field athlete who specialises in the 400 metres hurdles and 400 metres. In the 400 metres hurdles, Bol's personal best is 51.45 seconds, which is a European record and ma ...

, and lowered her personal best to 54.23 seconds. On 30 June 2024, she won the French national 400m hurdles title in Angers in a time of 53.71 seconds.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maraval, Louise 2001 births Living people French female sprinters French Athletics Championships winners French female hurdlers Sportspeople from Vendée World Athletics Championships athletes for France 21st-century French sportswomen Athletes (track and field) at the 2024 Summer Olympics