Muriel Hurtis-Houairi (born 25 March 1979) is a French

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

athlete.Athlete biography: Muriel Hurtis-Houairi
beijing2008.cn, ret: Aug 30, 2008 She came to prominence in 2002 when she won the 200 m

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...

s at both the European Indoor Championships and the

European Athletics Championships The European Athletics Championships is a biennial (from 2010) athletics event organised by the European Athletics Association and is recognised as the elite continental outdoor athletics championships for Europe. Editions First held, for men ...

. The following year she added the World Indoor title and won a

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receive ...

at the

2003 World Championships in Athletics The 9th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held from 23 August to 31 August 2003 in the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis, France. Men's results ...

and a gold in the 4×100 metres relay with France. Her form faltered over the next few years and she failed to get past the quarter-final stage at the

2004 Olympic Games The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

, although she won Olympic bronze in the relay. She failed to retain her European title at the

2006 European Athletics Championships The 19th European Athletics Championships were held in Gothenburg, Sweden, between 7 August and 13 August 2006. The competition arena was the Ullevi Stadium and the official motto "Catch the Spirit". Gothenburg also hosted the 1995 World Champions ...

and was knocked out at the quarter-finals of the 2007 World Championships. She missed out on the 200 m final at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

by one place. She is the French indoor record holder over 200 m.

Career

Her first major success came at the 1998 IAAF World Junior Championships in

Annecy Annecy ( , ; frp, Èneci or ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France. It lies on the northern tip of Lake Annecy, south of Geneva, Switzerland. Nicknamed ...

, France, where she won the 200 m

. She made her first senior global appearance at age 20 at the

1999 World Championships in Athletics The 7th World Championships in Athletics, a World Athletic Championships event held under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held at the Estadio Olímpico, Seville, Spain, between the August 20 and Augu ...

and, after running a personal best of 22.31 seconds in the qualifiers, she finished fifth in the 200 m semi-finals. She ran with the women's 4×100 metres relay team and scored a silver medal alongside Sylviane Félix, Frédérique Bangué, and Odiah Sidibé. Hurtis made her Olympic debut the following year at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

and again she reached the semi-finals, this time finishing in seventh place. Hurtis's first global final came at the

2001 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 8th IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics were held at the Pavilhão Atlântico in Lisbon, Portugal from March 9 to March 11, 2001. It was the first time the Championships had been held in Portugal. There were a total number of 511 part ...

, where she finished in fifth. She also helped the French relay team to the World silver medal at the

2001 World Championships in Athletics The 8th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada between 3 August and 12 August and was the first time the event ...

later that year.

European and World medals

The 2002 season marked a significant career progression for Hurtis, beginning with the gold medal at the European Indoor Championships. She ran a

100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been conteste ...

personal best that summer, recording a time of 10.96 seconds, making her the joint second-fastest French woman over the distance alongside

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 ...

. She became the 200 m European Champion at the

2002 European Athletics Championships The 18th European Athletics Championships were held from 6 August to 11 August 2002 in the Olympic Stadium of Munich, Germany. Men's results Track 1994 , 1998 , 2002 , 2006 , 2010 , 1 Dwain Chambers originally won the 100 m in 9.96 and was p ...

, winning in a season's best time of 22.43 seconds, and won a second gold with France as part of the 4×100 metres relay team. She closed the year with a fourth place in the 100 m at the

2002 IAAF Grand Prix Final The 2002 IAAF Grand Prix Final was the eighteenth edition of the season-ending competition for the IAAF Grand Prix track and field circuit, organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations. It was held on 14 September at the Stad ...

and by winning the 200 m

silver medal A silver medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc ...

at the

2002 IAAF World Cup The 9th IAAF World Cup in Athletics was an international track and field sporting event sponsored by the International Association of Athletics Federations. It was hosted by Madrid, September 21–22, 2002, in the Estadio La Peineta. The IAAF worl ...

behind

Debbie Ferguson Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie (born 16 January 1976) is a former Bahamian sprint athlete who specialised in the 100 and 200 metres. Ferguson-McKenzie participated in five Olympi ...

. She continued her strong form into 2003, recording a French indoor record of 22.49 seconds in the 200 m at the

2003 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 9th IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics were held in the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham, UK from 14 to 16 March 2003. It was the first time the Championships had been held in the UK. There were a total number of 589 participat ...

before going on to win the gold medal. At the

she finished in fourth place, but the original winner (

Kelli White Kelli White (born April 1, 1977, in Oakland, California) is an American former sprinter. She won two gold medals in the World Championships in Paris in 2003. However, on June 18, 2004, she was stripped of her medals, because she tested positive ...

) was stripped of her medal for using banned substances and Hurtis was upgraded to the bronze medal. Further complicating the situation,

Anastasiya Kapachinskaya Anastasiya Alexandrovna Kapachinskaya (russian: Анастасия Александровна Капачинская; born November 20, 1979) is a Russian former sprint athlete. She was the 2003 World champion in the 200 m. She was disqualifie ...

, who was upgraded to the gold medal was banned six months later for steroid use. Hurtis went on to win her second medal of the competition by winning the relay with Sylviane Félix,

Christine Arron Christine Arron (born 13 September 1973) is a former track and field sprinter, who competed internationally for France in the 60 metres, 100 metres, 200 metres and the 4 × 100 metres relay. She is one of the ten fastest female 100 metres spri ...

and

Patricia Girard Patricia Girard (also Girard-Léno, born 8 April 1968 in Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe,) is a French athlete who competed mainly in the 100m hurdles. Biography She competed for France in the 1996 Summer Olympics in the 100m hurdles where she won t ...

. At the inaugural

2003 IAAF World Athletics Final The 1st IAAF World Athletics Final was held at the Stade Louis II, in Monte Carlo, Monaco on 13 September and 14 September 2003. It was the series finale for the 2003 IAAF World Outdoor Meetings and the successor tournament to the 2002 IAAF Grand ...

, she won the 200 m gold and took fifth in the 100 m.

Drop in form

With the removal of the 200 m from the World Indoor programme, Hurtis took part in her first global

60 metres 60 metres, or 60-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field. It is a championship event for indoor championships, normally dominated by the best outdoor 100 metres runners. At outdoor venues it is a rare distance, at least for senior at ...

race at the

2004 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 10th IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) were held in the Budapest Arena, Hungary between March 5 and March 7, 2004. A total off 139 countries were re ...

as was fifth with a season's best of 7.17 seconds. In the

2004 Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

she failed to qualify for the semi-finals of the 200 metres. She won the bronze medal in the

4 × 100 m relay 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest c ...

at the

Athens, Greece Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

. Hurtis-Houairi represented

France at the 2008 Summer Olympics France sent a team of 323 athletes to the 2008 Summer Olympics. Medalists Archery France will send archers to the Olympics for the twelfth time. France qualified a full team of three women by placing eighth in the women's team event at the 200 ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

. She competed at the 4x100 metres relay together with

Myriam Soumaré Myriam Soumaré (born 29 October 1986) is a retired French track and field sprinter., beijing2008.cn, ret: Aug 30, 2008 She announced her retirement from athletics in February 2016. Athletics career 2008–2009 Soumaré made her Olympic debu ...

Lina Jacques-Sebastien Lina (pronounced "Leena") is a feminine given name. Languages of origin include: English, Italian, Lithuanian, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Persian, Kurdish, Arabic. It is also the short form of a variety of names ending in -lina including Catalin ...

and

Carima Louami Carima Louami (born 12 May 1979 in Tourcoing) is a track and field sprint athlete who competes internationally for France. Louami represented France at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. She competed at the 4 × 100 metres relay together wit ...

. In their first round heat they did not finish and were eliminated due to a mistake with the baton exchange. A number of injuries to her

hamstring In human anatomy, a hamstring () is any one of the three posterior thigh muscles in between the hip and the knee (from medial to lateral: semimembranosus, semitendinosus and biceps femoris). The hamstrings are susceptible to injury. In quadrupeds, ...

interrupted her career in 2009 and 2010, but she returned to the track in May 2010 and ran the

400 metres The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics (sport), athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor runn ...

in 53.65 seconds. Encouraged by her quick performance, given that she had not attempted distance competitively since 1998, she did not rule out a switch to the longer distance. However, she said her main focus remained the 200 m.Hurtis-Houairi impresses over 400m but aims for 200m in Barcelona

European Athletics The European Athletic Association (more commonly known as European Athletics) is the governing body for athletics in Europe. It is one of the six Area Associations of the world's athletics governing body World Athletics. European Athletics has 51 ...

(2010-05-12). Retrieved on 2010-06-04.

Personal bests

*All information taken from IAAF profile.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hurtis, Muriel 1979 births Living people Sportspeople from Bondy French people of Guadeloupean descent French female sprinters Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes of France Olympic bronze medalists for France World Athletics Championships medalists European Athletics Championships medalists Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field) World Athletics Indoor Championships winners World Athletics Championships winners Olympic female sprinters