Hanna Emilie Mariën (born 16 May 1982) is a Belgian retired

athlete An athlete is most commonly a person who competes in one or more sports involving physical strength, speed, power, or endurance. Sometimes, the word "athlete" is used to refer specifically to sport of athletics competitors, i.e. including track ...

and

bobsledder Bobsleigh or bobsled is a winter sport in which teams of 2 to 4 athletes make timed speed runs down narrow, twisting, banked, iced tracks in a gravity-powered sleigh. International bobsleigh competitions are governed by the International Bobsle ...

. As a sprinter, Mariën specialized in the

200 metres The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400-metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slight ...

and won gold in the relay at the

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

. Mariën later became a bobsleigher, competing for Belgium at the

2014 Winter Olympics The 2014 Winter Olympics, officially called the XXII Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Sochi 2014 (), were an international winter multi-sport event that was held from 7 to 23 February 2014 in Sochi, Russia. Opening ro ...

Athletics

Mariën reached the semi-final at the 2006 European Championships and won the bronze medal at the

2007 Summer Universiade The 2007 Summer Universiade officially known as the XXIV Summer Universiade and commonly known as Bangkok Universiade, was an international multi-sport for university athletes that took place from 8 to 18 August 2007 in Bangkok, Thailand, with pr ...

. At the 2007 World Championships she won a bronze medal in the relay, together with teammates Olivia Borlée,

Élodie Ouédraogo Élodie Ouédraogo (born 27 February 1981 in Saint-Josse-ten-Noode) is a retired Belgian sprinter of Burkinabé descent, who specializes in the 200 metres and 400 m hurdles. An Olympic gold medalist, her personal best time in the 200 m is 23 ...

and

Kim Gevaert Kim Gevaert (born 5 August 1978 in Leuven) is a former sprinter and Olympic champion from Belgium. Career Her closest brush with a world title came in running four hundredths of a second behind three-time champion Gail Devers at the 2004 IAAF ...

. With 42.75 seconds the team set a new Belgian record. At the 2008 Summer Olympics Mariën competed in the relay, together with Gevaert, Borlée and Ouédraogo. In their first round heat they placed first in front of

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

and

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

. Their time of 42.92 seconds was the third time overall out of sixteen participating nations. With this result they qualified for the final in which they sprinted to a time of 42.54 seconds and the second place, 0.23 seconds behind

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. In 2016, after Yuliya Chermoshanskaya's re-tested samples revealed two illegal substances, Russia was disqualified promoting Belgium to first place. She was awarded the gold medal eight years late on September 10, 2016.

Bobsleighing

After retiring from athletics in 2012, Mariën turned to bobsleighing. With the national bobsleigh team, she participated at the

, where she and Elfje Willemsen ended sixth in the two woman bob.

References

External links

*
Hanna Mariën
at All-Athletics.com * {{DEFAULTSORT:Marien, Hanna 1982 births Living people Belgian female sprinters Olympic athletes for Belgium Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Belgium Sportspeople from Herentals Athletes from Antwerp Province World Athletics Championships medalists Belgian female bobsledders Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Bobsledders at the 2014 Winter Olympics Olympic bobsledders for Belgium Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) FISU World University Games bronze medalists for Belgium Medalists at the 2007 Summer Universiade Olympic female sprinters 21st-century Belgian sportswomen