Murielle Ahouré (born 23 August 1987) is an Ivorian sprinter who competes in the
60 meters
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 ath ...
, 100 m and 200 m. She was a double silver medalist at the 2013 world championships in Moscow. She came second in both the 100 and 200 meters at this event. Ahouré was the gold medallist in the 60 m at the
2018 IAAF World Indoor Championships
The 17th IAAF World Indoor Championships was held from 1 to 4 March 2018 in Birmingham, United Kingdom. This was the city's second hosting of the event as it previously did so in 2003.
Bidding process
Birmingham bid for the 2016 IAAF World Ind ...
.
She also won a silver medal at 60 metres event at
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 fou ...
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...
. She was the 2009 NCAA Indoor Champion at 200 metres while running for the
University of Miami
The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, i ...
. Ahouré's personal best at 100 m is 10.78 (Montverde, USA, 2016) and in 200 m 22.24 (Monaco, 2013).
She holds African records in 60m and 200 metres indoor. At the 2012 Summer Olympics she placed sixth in the 200 m and seventh in the 100 m.
She ran under seven seconds for the
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 ath ...
for the first time in February 2013, becoming the eighth fastest woman ever with her time of 6.99 seconds. In 2018 she won the gold medal in the 60 m at the
2018 IAAF World Indoor Championships
The 17th IAAF World Indoor Championships was held from 1 to 4 March 2018 in Birmingham, United Kingdom. This was the city's second hosting of the event as it previously did so in 2003.
Bidding process
Birmingham bid for the 2016 IAAF World Ind ...
The daughter of General Mathias Doué, Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Ivory Coast, Ahouré travelled a lot in her early life, living in France, China, Japan and Germany, before moving to the United States at the age of 14. She took up athletics in her second year at high school, mostly as a way to make friends. After high school, she studied criminal law at George Mason University. In her final year at university, she transferred to the
University of Miami
The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, i ...
to work with Amy Deem. She took the 2009 NCAA indoor 200 m title, with a then world's best time. That year. she also twice broke the Ivory Coast 100 m record outdoors.
In 2010, she moved to
Houston
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...
after an injury-marred start to the season. She went to train under Allen Powell. In 2011, she again broke the Ivorian record.
International career
In 2012, she made her international debut for the Ivory Coast at the World Indoor Championships, winning a silver medal in the 60 m, with a new personal best. This was the first World Indoor Athletics for the Ivory Coast. Despite breaking the Ivorian 100 m record again, she was unable to win a medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics.
In the 2013 indoor athletics season, she broke the African 60 m indoor record with a time of 7.00 seconds. She was undefeated for the entire indoor season. At the 2013 World Athletics Championships, the 200 m was expected to be her stronger event, but she also managed to edge out defending champion
Carmelita Jeter
Carmelita Jeter ( , born November 24, 1979) is a retired American sprinter, who competed in the 60 metres, 100 m and 200 m. For over a decade, between 2009 and 2021, Jeter held the title as "Fastest woman alive" after running a 100 m personal be ...
to win silver behind
Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce
Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce OD, OJ (née Fraser; born December 27, 1986) is a Jamaican track and field sprinter competing in the 60 metres, 100 m and 200 m. She is widely regarded as one of the greatest sprinters of all time.
On ...
in the 100 m. In doing so, she became the first Ivorian to win a World Athletics Championships medal and the first African woman to win a medal in the 100 or 200 m at the World Championships. For her successes, she was awarded the rank of Chevalier of the National Order of Merit by President
Alassane Ouattara
Alassane Dramane Ouattara (; ; born 1 January 1942) is an Ivorian politician who has been President of Ivory Coast (Côte d'Ivoire) since 2010. An economist by profession, Ouattara worked for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) She was also named the Ivory Coast's best sportsperson of the year.
At the 2014 African Championships, she lost the 100 m to Blessing Okagbare, but won the 200 m which Okagbare did not participate in.
In 2015, Ahouré won her first Diamond League 100 m at the Oslo meeting. At the
World Championships
A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...
that year, she did not make the 100 m final after finishing 4th in her semi-final, and in doing so aggravated a knee injury which prevented her from running the 200 m.
The knee injury prevented her from training for eight months, causing her to miss the 2016 indoor season. She also moved training group, to
Dennis Mitchell
Dennis Allen Mitchell (born February 20, 1966) is an American former college and international track and field athlete, who was a member of the gold medal-winning team in the 4 x 100 meters relay race at ...
's group in Florida. In March 2016 Ahouré launched her foundation which aims to help bring back sport in school, assist children's education and empower underprivileged women and children. In June, she claimed the African 100 m record from Blessing Okagbare.
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
via
World Athletics
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 fo ...