Floria Gueï

Floria Gueï (pronounced [flɔʁja ɡe.i]; born 2 May 1990[1]) is a French sprint athlete of Ivorian origin specialising in the 400 metres. A 2016 European Championships silver medallist and a 2017 European Indoor Championships gold medallist, she also won as a member of women's 4x400 m relays a bronze at the 2013 World Championships and medals at several other international competitions.

Floria Gueï
Gueï at the 2016 European Championships in Amsterdam
Personal information
Born (1990-05-02) May 2, 1990
Nantes, France
Height1.66 m (5 ft 5 in)
Weight52 kg (115 lb)
Sport
Country France
SportTrack and field
Event(s)400 metres
ClubEntente Sud lyonnais
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)
  • 400 m: 50.84 s (2016)
  • 4x400 m: 3:24.21 (2013)
  • Indoor
  • 400 m: 51.90i s (2017)
Medal record
Women's athletics
Representing  France
World Championships
Bronze medal – third place2013 Moscow4×400 m relay
European Championships
Gold medal – first place2014 Zürich4x400 m relay
Silver medal – second place2012 Helsinki4x400 m relay
Silver medal – second place2016 Amsterdam400 m
Silver medal – second place2016 Amsterdam4x400 m relay
Silver medal – second place2018 Berlin4x400 m relay
European Indoor Championships
Gold medal – first place2015 Prague4x400 m relay
Gold medal – first place2017 Belgrade400 m
Bronze medal – third place2011 Paris4x400 m relay
Gueï (left) in the relay squad at the 2011 European Indoor Championships
Gueï at the 2014 DécaNation

Gueï is known for her remarkable last leg at the 2014 European Championships relay final, when she went from fourth to first in the last 50 metres of the race.[2]

Career

Gueï has won 4 medals in the 4x400 metres relay at the consecutive European Championships in 2012-18; three silver and a gold in 2014.

She was first selected for the event's French A team in 2010, when she ran in the heats.

In August 2014 at the European Championships in Zurich Floria Gueï ran one of the most remarkable final legs of a 4 x 400m relay ever seen. She took the baton in fourth place approximately a second behind the three leading runners from the UK, Russia and Ukraine, each of whom had run faster than Gueï in the individual 400m event at the Championships. With 200m remaining she still appeared out of medal contention but finished with a sprint in which she passed all the other athletes in the last 50m to win the race for France at the last stride by 0.05 seconds. Her time for the leg was 49.71, almost two seconds faster than her personal best of 51.42 at the time, prompting the exclamation from an ecstatic French TV commentator "but that is not possible!" (mais ce n'est pas possible!).[3]

In July 2016, Gueï won a silver medal in the 400 metres at the European Championships. She won a gold medal in the event at the 2017 European Indoor Championships.[4]

In July 2017, Gueï announced her withdrawal from the 2017 World Championships due to medical issues.[5]

In July 2018, she finished second in the 400 metres at the World Cup, and returned later that evening to anchor the 4x400 metres relay with remarkable run, pulling France from a distant fifth to take a bronze medal.

In February 2019, Gueï announced her pregnancy on her Instagram account, and gave birth to a boy on 23 April.[6][7] She then returned to training, and took part in two competitions in 2020.

She qualified for the 4x400 m relay at the 2021's 2020 Tokyo Olympics.[8]

Achievements

International competitions
Representing  France
YearCompetitionVenuePositionEventNotes
2007 European Youth Olympic Festival Belgrade, Serbia 2nd 4x100 m 46.43
2008 World Junior Championships Bydgoszcz, Poland 27th (h) 400 m 55.74
4th 4×400 m 3:35.83
2010 European Championships Barcelona, Spain 5th 4×400 m 3:29.25 [n 1]
2011 European Indoor Championships Paris, France 3rd 4×400 m 3:32.16
European U23 Championships Ostrava, Czech Republic 12th (h) 400 m 54.09
3rd 4×400 m 3:31.73
World Championships Daegu, South Korea 14th (h) 4×400 m 3:28.02
2012 European Championships Helsinki, Finland 2nd 4×400 m 3:25.49
Olympic Games London, United Kingdom 5th 4×400 m 3:25.92
2013 World Championships Moscow, Russia 12th (sf) 400 m 51.42
3rd 4×400 m 3:24.21
Francophone Games Nice, France 1st 400 m 52.31
3rd 4×400 m 3:35.20
2014 World Relays Nassau, Bahamas 4th 4×400 m 3:25.84
European Championships Zürich, Switzerland 11th (sf) 400 m 52.82
1st 4×400 m 3:24.28
2015 European Indoor Championships Prague, Czech Republic 6th (sf) 400 m 53.00
1st 4×400 m 3:31.61
World Championships Beijing, China 15th (sf) 400 m 51.30
7th 4×400 m 3:26.45
2016 European Championships Amsterdam, Netherlands 2nd 400 m 51.21
2nd 4×400 m 3:25.96
Olympic Games Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 11th (sf) 400 m 51.08
10th (h) 4×400 m 3:26.18
2017 European Indoor Championships Belgrade, Serbia 1st 400 m 51.90 PB
5th 4×400 m 3:33.61
World Relays Nassau, Bahamas 8th 4×400 m 3:35.03
2018 World Cup London, United Kingdom 2nd 400 m 51.84
3rd 4×400 m 3:25.91
European Championships Berlin, Germany 7th 400 m 51.57
2nd 4×400 m 3:27.17
2021 World Relays Chorzów, Poland 8th 4×400 m 3:30.46 [n 1]
Olympic Games Tokyo, Japan 11th (h) 4×400 m 3:25.07
  1. Time from the heats; Gueï was replaced in the final

Circuit wins

National titles

References
  1. "Floria GUEI – Athlete Profile". World Athletics. Retrieved 2019-01-01.
  2. External videos on YouTube:
  3. "'Miracle' Race in EC Women's 4×400 Relay".
  4. "Floria Gueï médaillée d'or européenne sur 400 m à Belgrade". L'Équipe (in French). 2017-03-04.
  5. "Floria Gueï forfait pour les Championnats du monde de Londres". L'Équipe (in French). 2017-07-25.
  6. "Floria Guei annonce sa grossesse". L'Équipe (in French). 2019-02-15. Retrieved 2021-06-21.
  7. "Floria Gueï annonce la naissance de son petit garçon". Le Progrès (in French). 2019-04-25. Retrieved 2021-06-21.
  8. Jame, Hadrien (2021-06-13). "Athlétisme : la Lyonnaise Floria Gueï manque les minima pour les Jeux de Tokyo". Lyon Capitale (in French). Retrieved 2021-06-21.
  9. "Floria Guei – Podiums". bases.athle.fr (in French). French Athletics Federation. Retrieved 2021-06-28.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Floria Gueï.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.