Ludvy Vaillant

Ludvy Vaillant
Ludvy Vaillant (2018)
Full name	Ludvy Vaillant
nation	France
birthday	15th March 1995 (age 25)
place of birth	Fort-de-France ,  Martinique
size	181 cm
Weight	71 kg
Career
discipline	400 m hurdles
Best performance	48.30 s
society	Athletic Club Saleen
Trainer	Jean-Claude Berquier
status	active
Medal table
Mediterranean Games 1 × 0 × 0 × U23 European Championships 1 × 0 × 2 ×
Mediterranean Games gold Tarragona 2018 400 m hurdles  U23 European Championships gold Tallinn 2015 4 × 400 m bronze Bydgoszcz 2017 400 m hurdles bronze Bydgoszcz 2017 4 × 400 m
last change: August 14, 2020

Ludvy Vaillant (born March 15, 1995 in Fort-de-France , Martinique ) is a French athlete who specializes in the 400-meter hurdles .

Athletic career

Ludvy Vaillant was born in the French overseas department of Martinique, where he started athletics training in 2006 at the local Athletic Club Saleen. In 2011 he took part in the French U18 championships over 400 meter hurdles, in which he finished fifth. A year later he ran almost three seconds faster over this track at the same championships and was U18 runner-up in France. In 2013 he was able to fight for a medal for the first time on an international level at the U20 European Championships in Rieti. In the individual, he made it into the finals in his favorite discipline, but finished eighth and last. Before that, he ran a new record in the semifinals in 51.81 s. On the same day he also competed with the 4 x 400 meter relay, which ended the quartet in fourth place. In 2014 he won the French U20 championships, again with an improvement on his personal best. In 2015 he was then U23 champion in France over the hurdles. In this discipline, however, he did not compete at the U23 European Championships in Tallinn, but over 400 meters flat and with the relay. He had previously stayed under 47 seconds for the first time over 400 meters and was then able to increase in the lead up to 46.03 s in Tallinn. In the final, he could not confirm the time, lagged behind it by a good second and finished the race in seventh place. A day later, things went better in the season finale after the French quartet won the European championship in 3: 04.92 minutes.

In 2016, Vaillant took part in the French adult championships for the first time, where he won the silver medal over the 400 meter hurdles. Even if it wasn't enough for qualification in the individual, he still took part in the relay at the European Championships in Amsterdam. In the run-up they ran a similar time as a year earlier at the U23 European Championships, which was not enough to advance. In June 2017, he ran the hurdles for the first time under 50 seconds and was thus able to qualify for the individual and relay world championships in addition to his second participation in the U23 European championships. At the European Championships in Bydgoszcz, he gradually increased his hurdle best time to 49.31 s in the final. During this time he was able to win the bronze medal. He also won the same medal with the relay. On his World Cup debut in London, he was able to move directly into the semi-finals and just missed the final as fourth of his run. Overall, he finished 15th. With the relay, however, he managed to get into the finals, although the four athletes took the last place. In 2018, Vaillant was able to improve to a time of less than 49 seconds in its second competition of the season. Two weeks later he confirmed with 48.76 s in the final of the Mediterranean Games in Tarragona, with which he could win the gold medal. In the following month he was able to emerge for the first time at the French championships as a winner. Another month later he took part again in the individual and with the relay at the European Championships in Berlin. In the individual, he was the third-best European based on the preliminary results. He was initially able to withstand this pressure by reaching the finals. In this he improved again to 48.42 seconds, but in fourth place just missed the podium. In 2019, Vaillant was able to improve its best time to 48.30 s at a meeting in Paris, which has been recorded since then. With that he moved up to third place in the French best list over 400 meter hurdles and also fulfilled the norm for the world championships in Doha, to which he traveled as the fourth best athlete of the year. There he was able to advance to the semifinals. His 49.10 seconds were not enough to make it into the final and he was eliminated in fourth place in his run. Overall, he finished 12th. He also finished seventh with the season.

Vaillant has been training in his home town of Martinique in the Caribbean since childhood, where he trained as a physiotherapist until 2019. He describes the training conditions, above all the weather, as ideal for preparing for his competitions.

Major competitions

year	event	place	space	discipline	time
Starts for France
2013	U20 European Championships	Rieti	8th.	400 m hurdles	52.29 s
			4th	4 × 400 m	3: 05.41 min
2015	U23 European Championships	Tallinn	7th	400 m	47.04 s
			1.	4 × 400 m	3: 04.92 min
2016	European championships	Amsterdam	12.	4 × 400 m	3: 04.95 min
2017	U23 European Championships	Bydgoszcz	3.	400 m hurdles	49.31 s
			3.	4 × 400 m	3: 05.24 min
	World championships	London	15th	400 m hurdles	49.95 s
			8th.	4 × 400 m	3: 01.79 min
2018	Mediterranean Games	Tarragona	1.	400 m hurdles	48.76 s
	European championships	Berlin	4th	400 m hurdles	48.42 s
			4th	4 × 400 m	3: 02.08 min
2019	World championships	Doha	12.	400 m hurdles	49.10 s
			7th	4 × 400 m	3: 03.06 min

Personal best

open air

• 200 m : 20.97 s, March 18, 2017, Fort-de-France
• 400 m : 45.25 s, 9 June 2018, Fort-de-France
• 400 m hurdles : 48.30 s, August 24, 2019, Paris

Web links

• Ludvy Vaillant in the database of World Athletics (English)
• Ludvy Vaillant in the database of European Athletics (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Profile on bases.athle.fr
2. ↑ Ludvy Vaillant: “Garder la tête sur les épaules” ( French ) September 4, 2019. Accessed August 14, 2020.
3. ↑ Ludvy Vaillant: “Prouver qu'on peut réussir en Martinique” ( French ) June 21, 2018. Accessed August 14, 2020.