Raphael Bouju (born 15 May 2002) is a Dutch

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

athlete who competes as a sprinter. A successful junior, he has won senior national Dutch titles over 60m and

100m The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contested at ...

Early life

Born in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, Bouju moved to England with his mum and sister in 2006. He returned the Netherlands to train at the

Papendal Olympic Training Centre Papendal () is the national training centre of the Netherlands, located in the Veluwe woods from Arnhem. Papendal is the home base of NOC*NSF and football club SBV Vitesse. The soccer fields are also being used as trainin ...

in 2018. He studied International Business at HAN University of Applied Sciences in

Arnhem Arnhem ( ; ; Central Dutch dialects, Ernems: ''Èrnem'') is a Cities of the Netherlands, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands, near the German border. It is the capita ...

Junior career

In 2018 Bouju won the English Schools inter boys’ 100m in a time of 10.66s. That summer he also won gold in the 100 metres at the

2018 European Athletics U18 Championships The 2018 European Athletics U18 Championships was the second edition of the biennial, continental athletics competition for European athletes aged fifteen to seventeen. It was held in Győr, Hungary from 5 to 8 July at the Olympic Sport Park. Me ...

. In February 2020 he finished runner up in both the Dutch and British indoor 60m championships, his time of 6.70s setting a new Dutch U-20 record.

Senior career

In June 2022, Bouju won gold in the 100 meters at the Dutch championships in

Apeldoorn Apeldoorn (; Dutch Low Saxon: ) is a municipality and city in the province of Gelderland in the centre of the Netherlands. The municipality of Apeldoorn, including the villages of Beekbergen, Loenen (Apeldoorn), Loenen, Ugchelen and Hoenderloo ...

, and at the same time recorded a new personal best of 10.27 seconds. In August 2022 at the

European Athletics Championships The European Athletics Championships is a biennial (from 2010) athletics event organised by the European Athletic Association and is recognised as the elite continental outdoor athletics championships for Europe. Editions First held, for me ...

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

, he was part of the Netherlands' relay team that finished fourth overall in the 4×100 meters relay. In February 2023, Bouju took gold in the 60 meters at the Dutch Indoor Championships in Apeldoorn. The following month he competed in the 60 meters at the

European Indoor Athletics Championships The European Athletics Indoor Championships is a biennial indoor track and field competition for European athletes that is organised by the European Athletic Association. It was held for the first time in 1970, replacing the European Indoor Games ...

held in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

. He ran a new personal best time of 6.59 seconds to reach the semi-finals. In June 2023 he ran a new 100m personal best, running 10.09 in

Hengelo Hengelo (; Tweants dialect, Tweants: ) is a city in the eastern part of the Netherlands, in the Twente region, in the province of Overijssel. It is part of a larger urban area that also includes Enschede, Borne, Overijssel, Borne, Almelo and Ol ...

. On 2 July 2023 he finished fourth in the 100m at the

Diamond League The Diamond League is an annual series of elite track and field athletic competitions comprising fifteen invitational athletics meetings. The series sits in the top tier of the World Athletics one-day meet competitions. The inaugural season was ...

meeting in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

. On 14 July 2023, he won a silver medal at the

2023 European Athletics U23 Championships The 2023 European Athletics U23 Championships were the 14th edition of the biennial athletics competition between European athletes under the age of twenty three. The event was organized by European Athletics Association and held from 13–16 Ju ...

in the

100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contested at ...

behind

Jeremiah Azu Jeremiah Azu (born 15 May 2001) is a Welsh sprinter. He is the 2025 European Indoor Champion and 2025 World Indoor Champion over 60 metres. In 2024, he became the first Welshman to run the 100 metres in under 10 seconds in wind-legal conditi ...

Espoo, Finland Espoo (, ; ) is a city in Finland. It is located to the west of the capital, Helsinki, in southern Uusimaa. The population is approximately . It is the most populous Municipalities of Finland, municipality in Finland. Espoo is part of the Helsi ...

. He was selected for the

2023 World Athletics Championships The 2023 World Athletics Championships (), the nineteenth edition of the World Athletics Championships, were held from 19 to 27 August 2023 at the National Athletics Centre (Budapest), National Athletics Centre, in Budapest, Hungary. The tourna ...

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

. He reached the semi-finals of the 100m. In January 2025, he ran 6.56 for the 60m at the

Belgrade Indoor Meeting The Belgrade Indoor Meeting, formerly the Serbian Open Indoor Meeting, is an annual indoor track and field competition which takes place between January and March at the Atletska dvorana in Belgrade, Serbia. In 2025, the event will become a part ...

in January 2025, breaking the Dutch national indoor record.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bouju, Raphael 2002 births Living people Sportspeople from Bedford British male sprinters English male sprinters Dutch male sprinters Dutch Athletics Championships winners Athletes (track and field) at the 2023 European Games European Games silver medalists for the Netherlands European Games medalists in athletics 21st-century English sportsmen 21st-century Dutch sportsmen