Althéa Laurin
French taekwondo practitioner
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Althéa Laurin (born 1 September 2001) is a French taekwondo athlete competing in the middleweight division. She won the gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics and a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympic Games, both in the women + 67 kg. She has been made Knight of the National Order of Merit.
Laurin at the 2023 World Championships in Baku | ||
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
Representing  France | ||
| Women's taekwondo | ||
| Olympic Games | ||
 | 2024 Paris | +67 kg |
 | 2020 Tokyo | +67 kg |
| World Championships | ||
| 2023 Baku | 73 kg |
| Grand Prix | ||
| 2023 Paris | +67kg |
 | 2022 Paris | +67kg |
| 2022 Manchester | +67kg |
| European Games | ||
| 2023 Kraków-Małopolska | 73 kg |
| European Championships | ||
| 2022 Manchester | 73 kg |
| 2024 Belgrade | 73 kg |
| Mediterranean Games | ||
| 2018 Tarragona | 67 kg |
| 2022 Oran | +67 kg |
Career
Laurin made her debut internationally in 2016. The following year, she won the European Taekwondo Junior Championships in Larnaca and then the gold medal at the 2018 Junior World Championship in Hammamet.[1] She made her Olympic debut representing France at the 2020 Summer Olympics at 19 years old.[2]
She was selected for the 2020 Summer Olympics – Women's +67 kg where she defeated the Mexican fighter Briseida Acosta in the opening round and Olympic champion Zheng Shuyin in the second round. She lost against Milica Mandic and overcame Aminata Traoré in the repechage to secure a bronze Olympic medal.[3]
She won the gold medal in her event at the 2022 European Taekwondo Championships held in Manchester, United Kingdom.[4]
She won the bronze medal in the women's +67 kg event at the 2022 Mediterranean Games held in Oran, Algeria.[5]
In 2023, Laurin won the gold medal in the women's middleweight event at the World Taekwondo Championships held in Baku, Azerbaijan.[6] She defeated Rebecca McGowan of Great Britain in her gold medal match.[6][7]
In July 2023, she ranked number one in both world and Olympic rankings with a total of 477 points.[citation needed]
In June 2026 she was banned from competition for twenty months due to three whereabouts failures within twelve months, with all results from September 2025 expunged. Laurin blamed the missed drug tests on a faulty intercom at her home. The ban runs until October 9, 2027.[8]
Distinctions
In March 2024, the French Embassy in Korea named one of its hall after Laurin's name.[9]
- Orders
- In 2021, she was appointed Knight of the National Order of Merit.[11]
Personal life
Laurin was born in Saint-Denis, in the Seine-Saint-Denis department, into a family with roots in the French overseas department of Martinique.[12]
