Laura Frličková (born 15 January 2007) is a Slovak

hurdler Hurdling is the act of jumping over an obstacle at a high speed or in a sprint. In the early 19th century, hurdlers ran at and jumped over each hurdle (sometimes known as 'burgles'), landing on both feet and checking their forward motion. Today ...

. She became Slovakia’s first ever gold medalist at the

European Athletics U18 Championships The European Athletics U18 Championships (named as European Athletics Youth Championships in 2016) are a biennial athletics competition for European athletes under the age of eighteen ( youth category). The creation of the competition stemmed fr ...

in the 100 metres hurdles in 2024. She is also the holder of the European youth best in her event, having finished in 12.86 seconds during those same championships.

Biography

Frličková was born on 15 January 2007 in

Martin Martin may refer to: Places Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Europe * Martin, Croatia, a village * Martin, Slovakia, a city * Martín del Río, Aragón, Spain * M ...

. Her first international event was the

2022 European Youth Summer Olympic Festival The 2022 European Youth Olympic Festival, European Youth Summer Olympic Festival was held in Banská Bystrica, Slovakia, between 24 and 30 July 2022. Host selection Košice was originally to be host city but withdrew from the hosting in April 20 ...

Banská Bystrica Banská Bystrica (, also known by other #Etymology, alternative names) is a city in central Slovakia, located on the Hron River in a long and wide valley encircled by the mountain chains of the Low Tatras, the Greater Fatra, Veľká Fatra, and t ...

, where she finished 17th in the 100m hurdles. A year later she placed 7th in the same category at the

2023 European Youth Summer Olympic Festival The 2023 European Youth Summer Olympic Festival or simply EYOF 2023, also known as Maribor 2023, was the 17th edition of the European Youth Olympic Festival, European Youth Summer Olympic Festival, held from 23 to 29 July 2023 in Maribor, Sloveni ...

Maribor Maribor ( , , ; also known by other #Name, historical names) is the List of cities and towns in Slovenia, second-largest city in Slovenia and the largest city of the traditional region of Styria (Slovenia), Lower Styria. It is the seat of the ...

. As a child she competed in modern gymnastics but changed to athletics because she found her former sport too slow. Frličková competed at the Slovak Youth Athletics Championships in June 2024, setting a new national youth record in the heats with a time of 13.37 seconds. In the final she improved further, running the fastest female under-18 time of the year with a finish of 13.14 seconds to top the podium. At the same championships, she raced in the 200 metres, winning the final of that event just one-hundredth of a second ahead of the next-placed athlete. Frličková won Slovakia’s first ever gold medal at the European Athletics U18 Championships in the 100 metres hurdles at the 2024 European Athletics U18 Championships with the time 12.97 seconds after having set a new European youth best with a time of 12.86 seconds in the heats. At Slovakia's Athlete of the Year awards ceremony held in November 2024, Frličková won two awards, being named Young Female Athlete of the Year as well as Discovery of the Year. In addition, her coach Ľuboš Komárek was named Coach of the Year.

Personal life

Frličková's athletic idol is the fellow Slovak hurdler

Viktória Forster Viktória Forster (born 8 April 2002) is a Slovak track and field athlete who competes internationally as a hurdler and a sprinter. She holds the Slovak women's record for 60 metres hurdles, 100 metres hurdles and 100 metres. Biography Forst ...

. She met and trained with Forster in October 2024 in the

High Tatras The High Tatras or High Tatra Mountains (; ; ,'' Vysoki Tatry''; ; ), are a mountain range along the border of northern Slovakia in the Prešov Region, and southern Poland in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship. They are a range of the Tatra Mountains ...

. She hopes to qualify for the

2028 Summer Olympics The 2028 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXXIV Olympiad and commonly known as Los Angeles 2028 or LA 28, is an upcoming international multi-sport event scheduled to take place July 14–30, 2028, in the United States. Los Angeles ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Frlickova, Laura 2007 births Living people Sportspeople from Martin, Slovakia Athletes from the Žilina Region Slovak female hurdlers 21st-century Slovak sportswomen