LAZRAQ-KHLASS. A rising star in French athletics, Auriana Lazraq-Khlass stands out with her freshness on the track. Biography, track record, expatriation, find out who the French athlete is.
Auriana Lazraq-Khlass was born on April 22, 1999 in Pithiviers in the Loiret department. It was while watching television one summer at her aunt’s during the holidays that she developed a passion for athletics, from the age of five. She stumbled upon the Athens Olympic Games in 2004 by chance and was “glued”. Back home, young Auriana started athletics in her city’s club, where she discovered a strong competitive spirit.
Versatile and a jack-of-all-trades, it was natural for Auriana Lazraq-Khlass to turn to the heptathlon. But the young Auriana is not the type to win medals among young people, whether at the national or international level. So she decided to leave the family cocoon, which had moved to Metz in the east of France, to go and train in Montpellier, to follow a training course at the Montpellier athletics center, alongside athletes like Kevin Mayer or Antoinette Nana Djimou (double European champion in the heptathlon in 2012 and 2014). Talented but not always focused, Auriana Lazraq-Khlass competed in her first French championships just before the Covid-19 pandemic.
The French athlete then returned to Metz to train but was unable to get her career off the ground. She ended up becoming unemployed to devote herself entirely to her sports career in 2022. A choice that paid off, like taking Julien Choffart as her coach. The first results came quickly. She put together a series of performances, with three French champion titles and then one as U23 European champion. She entered the “6000 points” club in May 2023 in Montpellier, like a wink of fate.
Vice-champion of France in 2023, Auriana Lazraq-Khlass participated in her first world championships in 2023 in Budapest and finished in 12th place (6179 points), where she caused a sensation with her freshness and spontaneity. But it was in Rome, during the European championships in June 2024, that she definitively made a name for herself by winning the silver medal in the heptathlon to everyone’s surprise, with a personal record of 6635 points. A successful competition that allowed her to participate in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
What is Auriana Lazraq-Khlass’ track record?
Auriana Lazraq-Khlass does not have the most extensive track record in athletics, having blossomed late in life. At 25, the native of Pithiviers only has one French outdoor vice-champion title (2023) and a silver medal at the 2024 European Championships. A track record that she obviously dreams of adding to with a medal at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
Can Auriana Lazraq-Khlass get a medal in Paris?
After her performance in Rome at the European Championships, Auriana Lazraq-Khlass has secured her ticket to the Paris Olympic Games this summer. “I wanted to be at the Games. For any athlete, participating in the Olympic Games, even more so this edition at home, is going to be something incredible (…). Even having done what I did in Rome, I’m not putting pressure on myself to win a medal in Paris,” she admitted in an interview with Dicodusport. “If I have something to play for, don’t worry, I’m going to go and grab the medal.” Her coach, Julien Choffart, has already warned that she wouldn’t be going to Paris just for tourism: “She’s not going to the Games to see Paris but to get a taste of the track and continue to make history.”