Jessica Cérival (born 20 January 1982 in

Quimper, Finistère Quimper (, ; br, Kemper ; la, Civitas Aquilonia or ) is a commune and prefecture of the Finistère department of Brittany in northwestern France. Administration Quimper is the prefecture (capital) of the Finistère department. Geography Th ...

) is a French

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

athlete who specialises in the shot put. She attended her first major competition in 2007, the 2007 European Athletics Indoor Championships, and she finished seventh overall. She took part in the following edition in 2009 but was knocked out in the qualifying round.Cérival Jessica
IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-04-01. In spite of this, 2009 turned out to be a significant progression for the athlete. She became the French national champion and went on to take the shot put gold at the

2009 Mediterranean Games The 2009 Mediterranean Games, officially the XVI Mediterranean Games ( it, XVI Giochi del Mediterraneo) and commonly known as Pescara 2009, was a multi-sport event held in Pescara, Italy, from 26 June to 5 July 2009. It was governed by the Inter ...

, becoming the first French women in thirty years to take the title. She was selected for the French team at the

2009 World Championships in Athletics The 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics () were held in Berlin, Germany from 15–23 August 2009. The majority of events took place in the Olympiastadion, while the marathon and racewalking events started and finished at the Brandenburg ...

and she finished eleventh. She closed the year with a silver medal behind

Anca Heltne Anca Margareta Heltne, née Vîlceanu (born 1 January 1978 in Câmpulung) is a Romanian shot putter. She has an indoor personal best of , achieved in February 2010 in Bucharest. She represented her country at the 2008 Summer Olympics. She finish ...

at the

2009 Jeux de la Francophonie The 2009 Jeux de la Francophonie (''6th Francophone Games''), was an international multi-sport event held from 27 September to 6 October in Beirut, Lebanon. Organization The organization of the Jeux de la Francophonie is entrusted by the local a ...

.Vazel, P-J (2009-10-02)
El Ghazaly heads double success for Egypt - Francophone Games, Day 1
IAAF. Retrieved on 2009-10-03. She came fourth at the 2011 European Athletics Indoor Championships and was the silver medallist at the 2011 European Cup Winter Throwing outdoors. She represented France at the

2012 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 2012 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics was the 14th edition of the global-level indoor track and field competition and was held between March 9–11, 2012 at the Ataköy Athletics Arena in Istanbul, Turkey. It was the first of fou ...

, but did not progress beyond the qualifiers.

Competition record

References

External links

Photos from Mediterranean Games
from ''Life'' 1982 births Living people French female shot putters Mediterranean Games gold medalists for France Athletes (track and field) at the 2009 Mediterranean Games Mediterranean Games medalists in athletics Competitors at the 2007 Summer Universiade Sportspeople from Quimper {{France-shotput-bio-stub