Ophélie Claude-Boxberger, born 18 October 1988 at

Montbéliard Montbéliard (; traditional ) is a town in the Doubs Departments of France, department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Regions of France, region in eastern France, about from the border with Switzerland. It is one of the two Subprefectures in F ...

is a French athlete running for club Belfort Montbeliard Athletics. A specialist in the middle-distance races, she won 4 French Under 23s national championship titles in the 800 m and the 1,500 m and ran internationally twice for France before becoming champion of France Indoors in the 1,500 m and outdoors champion in the 3000m steeplechase. She is the daughter of the distance runner:

Jacky Boxberger Jacques "Jacky" Boxberger (16 April 1949 – 9 August 2001) was a track and field athlete from France who specialized in long-distance races. He was the great hope of French middle distance running, breaking the junior world record in the 1500 me ...

Biography

She started athletics in September 2001 after practicing several sports: Dance, horseback riding, tennis, climbing and gymnastics nationally. Among the best French youngsters at 1,000 m (3:03), she focused more on her studies which caused a slow progression in her running. In 2007, she met Laurent Fleury, during a training camp, who became her coach. She had strong progress in 2008 which enabled her to win her first cap for France for an international meet in the 800 m at

Lingolsheim Lingolsheim () is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. The town lies near Strasbourg. Geography Lingolsheim is situated southwest of Strasbourg, being a principal suburb between the city centre and Stras ...

. After spending her early career running the 800 m and having a semi-finalist placing at the 2009 Under 23s European Athletics Championships at

kaunas Kaunas (; ; also see other names) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the largest city and the centre of a county in the Duchy of Trakai ...

, she changed tack in 2014 deciding to go for longer distances, allowing her to obtain her first French Indoor athletic championship with a record of 4:13.23 in the 1,500 m, at the international meeting of

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( , , ; South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the third-largest city of the German state (''Land'') of Baden-Württemberg after its capital of Stuttgart and Mannheim, and the 22nd-largest city in the nation, with 308,436 inhabitants. ...

,. just missing out on qualification for the World Indoor Championships. In 2015, she won the title of champion of France for the 3000m steeplechase and became the fourth fastest French runner in history running 9:35.56 at the Ninove meeting on 1 August. After earning a bachelor of science with honors in 2006, she became professor of physical education after successfully gaining a CAPEPS and a masters in language and speech in 2010 at the

University of Besançon A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

. She was tested positive for

erythropoietin Erythropoietin (; EPO), also known as erythropoetin, haematopoietin, or haemopoietin, is a glycoprotein cytokine secreted mainly by the kidneys in response to cellular hypoxia; it stimulates red blood cell production (erythropoiesis) in the bo ...

(EPO) during a test carried out on 28 September 2019, just before the world athletics championships in Doha where she revealed her affair with the doctor of the French team, Jean -Michel Serra.

Prize list

National

Notes and references

External links

Official site
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Record Athlete
on the site ''Athle.fr'' 1988 births Living people Sportspeople from Montbéliard French female middle-distance runners French female steeplechase runners 21st-century French women {{France-middledistance-athletics-bio-stub