Floria Gueï (; born 2 May 1990) is a French sprint athlete of Ivorian (father) and French (Breton mother) 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 4 × 400 m relays a bronze at the 2013 World Championships and medals at several other international competitions.
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.External videos on YouTube:
Career Gueï has won 4 medals in the 4 × 400 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 × 400 m 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 400 m event at the Championships. With 200 m remaining she still appeared out of medal contention but finished with a sprint in which she passed all the other athletes in the last 50 m 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!).
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.
In July 2017, Gueï announced her withdrawal from the 2017 World Championships due to medical issues.
In July 2018, she finished second in the 400 metres at the World Cup, and returned later that evening to anchor the 4 × 400 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. She then returned to training, and took part in two competitions in 2020.
She qualified for the 4 × 400 m relay at the 2021's 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Achievements International competitions 2007European Youth Olympic FestivalBelgrade, Serbia2nd4 × 100 m46.432008World Junior ChampionshipsBydgoszcz, Poland27th (h)400 m55.744th4 × 400 m3:35.832010European ChampionshipsBarcelona, Spain5th4 × 400 m3:29.25 2011European Indoor ChampionshipsParis, France3rd4 × 400 m3:32.16European U23 ChampionshipsOstrava, Czech Republic12th (h)400 m54.093rd4 × 400 m3:31.73World ChampionshipsDaegu, South Korea14th (h)4 × 400 m3:28.022012European ChampionshipsHelsinki, Finland2nd4 × 400 m3:25.49Olympic GamesLondon, United Kingdom5th4 × 400 m3:25.922013World ChampionshipsMoscow, Russia12th (sf)400 m51.423rd4 × 400 m3:24.21Francophone GamesNice, France1st400 m52.313rd4 × 400 m3:35.202014World RelaysNassau, Bahamas4th4 × 400 m3:25.84European ChampionshipsZürich, Switzerland11th (sf)400 m52.821st4 × 400 m3:24.282015European Indoor ChampionshipsPrague, Czech Republic6th (sf)400 m53.001st4 × 400 m3:31.61World ChampionshipsBeijing, China15th (sf)400 m51.307th4 × 400 m3:26.452016European ChampionshipsAmsterdam, Netherlands2nd400 m51.212nd4 × 400 m3:25.96Olympic GamesRio de Janeiro, Brazil11th (sf)400 m51.0810th (h)4 × 400 m3:26.182017European Indoor ChampionshipsBelgrade, Serbia 1st400 m51.90 5th4 × 400 m3:33.61World RelaysNassau, Bahamas8th4 × 400 m3:35.032018World CupLondon, United Kingdom2nd400 m51.843rd4 × 400 m3:25.91European ChampionshipsBerlin, Germany7th400 m51.572nd4 × 400 m3:27.172021World RelaysChorzów, Poland8th4 × 400 m3:30.46 Olympic GamesTokyo, Japan11th (h)4 × 400 m3:25.07
Circuit wins Diamond League meetings 2016 (1) (400 m): Birmingham British Grand Prix
National titles French Athletics Championships 400 m (4): 2013, 2015, 2016, 2018Four-times runner-up in the distance (2012, 2014, 2017, 2021). 400 m indoor (1): 2011
References
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