Annette Sergent (born 17 November 1962) is a French former long-distance runner. She represented her country three times at the Summer Olympics, but it was in

cross country running Cross country running is a sport in which teams and individuals run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain such as dirt or grass. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open cou ...

that she had her greatest success. She became the first Frenchwoman to win a world title in the sport at the

1987 IAAF World Cross Country Championships The 1987 IAAF World Cross Country Championships was held in Warszawa, Poland, at the Służewiec Racecourse on March 22, 1987. A report on the event was given in the Glasgow Herald and in the Evening Times. Complete results for men, jun ...

and won for a second time in

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxon Valdez oil tanker runs ...

. In addition to these victories, she made eleven appearances at the competition and placed third in both 1986 and 1988. Her sole major track medal came over

10,000 metres The 10,000 metres or the 10,000-metre run is a common long-distance track running event. The event is part of the athletics programme at the Olympic Games and the World Athletics Championships, and is common at championship level events. The ra ...

at the

1990 European Athletics Championships The 15th European Athletics Championships were held from 26 August to 2 September 1990 in Split, Croatia, SFR Yugoslavia. The host stadium was Stadion Poljud. It was the last participation of East Germany (which was already scheduled to be merged ...

, where she was the bronze medallist. She was also a 3000 m silver medallist at the

1993 Mediterranean Games The XII Mediterranean Games, commonly known as the 1993 Mediterranean Games, were the 12th Mediterranean Games. The Games were held in Languedoc-Roussillon, France, from 16 June to 27 June 1993, where 2,598 athletes (1,994 men and 604 women) fro ...

. Over her career, she competed at the

World Championships in Athletics The World Athletics Championships (until 2019 known as the World Championships in Athletics) are a biennial athletics competition organized by World Athletics (formerly IAAF, International Association of Athletics Federations). Alongside the Ol ...

on three occasions. Sergent was a fifteen-time French champion, taking national honours eight times on the track and seven times in cross country. She set a number of national record marks in her career and remains the French record holder over 2000 m. She was twice married and ran under the names Annette ''Sergent-Palluy'' and ''Sergent-Petit''.

Career

Early life

Born in

Chambéry Chambéry (, , ; Arpitan: ''Chambèri'') is the prefecture of the Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of eastern France. The population of the commune of Chambéry was 58,917 as of 2019, while the population of the Chamb ...

, France,Annette Sergent-Palluy
Sports Reference. Retrieved on 2011-12-28. she initially focused on the 3000 metres and won the French under-23 title at the age of nineteen and broke the French under-23 record in 1982. Sergent went on to win her first national title over that distance in 1983. She won a

1500 Year 1500 ( MD) was a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. The year 1500 was not a leap year in the Proleptic Gregorian calendar. The year was seen as being especially important by many Christians in Europe, who thought i ...

/3000 m double at the French Athletics Championships the year after and was selected to represent France at the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the sec ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

.ANNETTE SERGENT-PETIT
FFA. Retrieved on 2011-12-28. On her first senior international outing, she was eliminated in the first round of the 3000 m, coming seventh in her heat. She closed the year with a win at the Cross du Figaro in Paris. In 1985 she retained her two national track titles and began to prove herself in

; Sergent won the first of her seven French cross country titles that year and finished seventeenth overall at the

1985 IAAF World Cross Country Championships The 1985 IAAF World Cross Country Championships was held in Lisbon, Portugal, at the Sports Complex of Jamor on March 24, 1985. A report on the event was given in the Glasgow Herald. Complete results for men, junior men, women, medall ...

.Sergent Annette
IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-12-28. In October, she won on the roads at the 10K Foulées de Suresnes. At the 1986 edition of the competition she won her first international medals in the long race, taking bronze medals in the individual and team events. Her continental track debut for France came at the

1986 European Athletics Championships The 14th European Athletics Championships were held from 26 to 31 August 1986 at the Neckarstadion, now known as Mercedes-Benz Arena, in Stuttgart, a city in West Germany. Contemporaneous reports on the event were given in the Glasgow Herald. ...

in Stuttgart and although she was eliminated in the heats of the 1500 m, she managed eighth in the women's 3000 m final.

World champion

Sergent claimed her first world title at the

, beating Liz Lynch by two seconds. She also led the French women to second in the team rankings behind the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

(led by

Lynn Jennings Lynn Alice Jennings (born July 1, 1960) is a retired American long-distance runner. She is one of the best female American runners of all time, with a range from 1500 meters to the marathon. She excelled at all three of the sport's major discip ...

).World Cross Country Championships
GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2011-12-29. Her debut at the

1987 World Championships in Athletics The 2nd World Championships in Athletics under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations were held in the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Italy between August 28 and September 6, 1987. Men's results Track 1983 , 1987 ...

followed and she narrowly missed the final, finishing eighth in her heat. She began the 1988 season with wins at the

Cinque Mulini The Cinque Mulini is an annual cross country running race in San Vittore Olona, Italy. First held in 1933, the course is unusual in that it revolves around a number of water mills along Olona river, which lend the competition its name – meaning ' ...

cross country meeting and the French Championship race. At the World Cross Championships in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

she failed to retain her title but won a medal for the third year running, taking individual and team bronze medals in the long race. On the track she set

national records National Records was a record label that was started in New York City by Albert Green in 1945 and lasted until early 1951. Big Joe Turner was signed at the beginning and remained until 1947. Billy Eckstine was also a big seller for the label as w ...

in the 3000 m and the

. She was a finalist in both events at the

1988 Seoul Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

, finishing 12th and 19th respectively. That year she ranked second over 5000 m at the

IAAF Grand Prix Final The IAAF Grand Prix Final was an athletics competition featuring track and field events staged by the International Association of Athletics Federations. It was first held in 1985 and replaced in 2003 by the IAAF World Athletics Final. For the most ...

, finishing as runner-up to Britain's

Liz McColgan Elizabeth Nuttall (née Lynch, formerly McColgan; born 24 May 1964) is a Scottish former middle-distance and long-distance track and road-running athlete. She won the gold medal for the 10,000 metres at the 1991 World Championships, and a ...

. A fifth consecutive French cross country title came in 1989 and at the

1989 IAAF World Cross Country Championships The 1989 IAAF World Cross Country Championships was held in Stavanger, Norway, at the Scanvest Ring on March 19, 1989. A report on the event was given in the Glasgow Herald ''The Herald'' is a Scottish broadsheet newspaper founded in 1783 ...

she returned to the top of the podium, taking the gold medal and taking France to the team runner-up spot close behind the Soviet team. She suffered an injury, missing the rest of the season, and returned to action at the 1990 IAAF World Cross Country Championships held in

Aix-les-Bains Aix-les-Bains (, ; frp, Èx-los-Bens; la, Aquae Gratianae), locally simply Aix, is a commune in the southeastern French department of Savoie.

. She was not at full strength, however, and finished in 17th place overall. She competed over 10,000 m at the

Split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, entertai ...

and came away with the bronze medal (her first on the track) and a new French record mark of 31:51.68 minutes. After the track season, she took to the roads and won the 3 km race at the Giro Podistico Internazionale di Pettinengo in Italy. Her principal race of 1991 came over 10,000 m at the

1991 World Championships in Athletics The 3rd World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held in the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo, Japan between August 23 and September 1. 1517 athletes from 167 countries participa ...

. Although she qualified easily with a run 31:55.97 minutes, she could not match this form in the final, in which she finished 19th and was over a minute slower. Sergent's career began to decline and in 1992 she came 27th at the 1992 World Cross Country race and failed to make it out of the 10,000 m heats at the

1992 Barcelona Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

. She was part of the bronze medal-winning women's team at the

1993 IAAF World Cross Country Championships The 1993 IAAF World Cross Country Championships was held in Amorebieta, Spain, at the Jaureguibarría Course on March 28, 1993. A report on the event was given in ''The New York Times'' and in the Herald. Complete results for senior men, ...

, but it was Farida Fatès who led the team while Sergent finished in 34th place. At the

1993 World Championships in Athletics The 4th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held in the Neckarstadium, Stuttgart, Germany between 13 and 22 August with the participation of 187 nations. Having ori ...

she was eliminated in the heats of the 3000 m in her third and final appearance at the competition. She did not end the season empty handed, however, as at the

, held on home turf in

Languedoc-Roussillon Languedoc-Roussillon (; oc, Lengadòc-Rosselhon ; ca, Llenguadoc-Rosselló) is a former administrative region of France. On 1 January 2016, it joined with the region of Midi-Pyrénées to become Occitania. It comprised five departments, and b ...

, she took the silver medal over 3000 m.

Late career

An 89th-place finish at the 1994 World Cross Country was a career low, but she improved the year after to come 19th in the 1995 World long race. She also won her seventh (and last) French Cross Country Championship With women now competing over 5000 m at the outdoor world championships, she had to enter at the 1995 IAAF World Indoor Championships to compete in her specialist 3000 m event and she managed eighth in the final. Sergent ran at the 2nd European Cross Country Championships in December and came sixth, helping the French women's team to third in the team rankings. She made her eleventh World Cross Country Championships appearance at the 1996 edition and finished 24th in the women's long race, ranking sixth with the French team. That year was the last of her athletics career and she brought it to an end with a win at the inaugural Lille Half Marathon race, taking the title in a time of 1:11:21 hours. Following her retirement from competitive athletics in 1996, she is now a member of the

European Athletic Association 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 ...

's cross country committee.

National records

Over her career, she broke a number of French record ranging from the

mile run The mile run (1,760 yards or exactly 1,609.344 metres) is a middle-distance foot race. The history of the mile run event began in England, where it was used as a distance for gambling races. It survived track and field's switch to ...

to the

. Her first national record mark came in 1985, when she ran a time of 8:52.32 minutes for the 3000 metres. She improved this to 8:50.56 the following month and broke Patricia Deneuville's French mile record a month after that (registering a time of 4:39.35 mins). In July 1986 she lopped three and a half seconds off her 3000 m mark, set a time of 5:39.00 mins for the 2000 m, then bettered Joëlle De Brouwer's 5000 metres record by almost twenty seconds, setting a new standard of 15:32.92 mins. Two further improvements over 3000 m and 5000 m came in 1988, with runs of 8:44.19 and 15:18.24 mins respectively. She also beat Christine Loiseau's record over 10,000 m that year. In 1990 she ran 15:16.44 mins for the 5000 m, which was to be her last national mark over that distance. Her run of 31:51.68 minutes at that year's European Championships made her the first Frenchwoman to complete the event in under 32 minutes. Although her 2000 m time is still the best set by a French athlete, all her records in other events were not long-standing: her 3000 m was beaten by Marie-Pierre Duros after a year, her 10,000 m mark was beaten by Rosario Murcia after two years, while her 5000 m was broken after four years by Farida Fatès.Chronologie des records de France Cadets, Juniors et Seniors depuis 1983
. FFA/Christian Tharaud. Retrieved on 2011-12-28.French Records

Fédération Française d'Athlétisme The French Athletics Federation (french: Fédération française d'athlétisme - ''FFA''), is the governing body for the sport of athletics in France. History FFA is the heir to the Union des Sociétés Françaises de Sports Athlétiques (USFSA), ...

. Retrieved on 2011-12-28.

References

External links

*
FFA Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sergent, Annette Living people 1962 births Sportspeople from Chambéry French female middle-distance runners French female long-distance runners French female marathon runners Olympic athletes for France Athletes (track and field) at the 1984 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1988 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1992 Summer Olympics European Athletics Championships medalists World Athletics Championships athletes for France World Athletics Cross Country Championships winners Mediterranean Games silver medalists for France Athletes (track and field) at the 1993 Mediterranean Games Mediterranean Games medalists in athletics 20th-century French women