Ladji Doucouré (born 28 March 1983) is a French track and field athlete.

Ladji Doucouré
Doucouré at the 2006 Meeting Gaz de France
Personal information
NationalityFrench
Born (1983-03-28) 28 March 1983 (age 41)
Juvisy-sur-Orge, department of Essonne in France
Height1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Weight75 kg (165 lb)
Sport
Sporthurdling and sprinting
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)110m hurdles (outdoor): 12.97 s (Angers, 2005)(+1.0)
60m hurdles (indoor): 7.42 s (Liévin, 2005)

Biography

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Ladji Doucouré's father and mother were Malian and Senegalese respectively. Ladji Doucouré was a football player and decathlete before specializing in hurdling and sprinting. His cousin Abdoulaye Doucouré is a French-Malian footballer.[1]

Career

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Doucouré finished fourth in the 60 m hurdles final at the 2003 World Indoor Championships. He was eliminated in the 110m hurdles semi-finals of the 2003 World Championships, his debut appearance in a World Championships. Doucouré competed in only one event – the 110 m hurdles – at the 2004 Olympics, his first Olympic Games. He had the fastest time among all the competitors in each of the first two rounds and in the semi-finals. But he finished eighth and last in the final in a time of 13.76 s; he was actually in second place before clipping the last hurdle.

Doucouré won the 60 m hurdles gold medal at the 2005 European Indoor Championships, his first European Championships, Olympic Games or World Championships medal at the senior level. At the French Athletics Outdoor Championships held in Angers on 15 July 2005, Doucouré won the 110m hurdles for the second consecutive year in a time of 12.97 s, setting a new national outdoor record and becoming he first French athlete to go under 13 seconds in that event. It was the world's best performance that year. At the 2005 World Championships, Doucouré won the 110m hurdles gold medal in a time of 13:07 s, beating 2004 Olympic Champion Liu Xiang by one hundredth of a second and veteran Allen Johnson by three hundredths of a second. He (together with Ronald Pognon, Eddy De Lépine and Lueyi Dovy) also won the gold medal in the 4×100 metres relay event at the same championships. He was named the 2005 L'Équipe Champion of Champions (France category) for his outstanding performance on the track that year.

 
Doucouré with his gold medal from Turin

Doucouré was eliminated in the 110m hurdles semi-finals of the 2007 World Championships. Doucouré finished fourth in the final of the 110 m hurdles (his only event) at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. The following year, he started strongly by winning the 60 m hurdles gold medal at the 2009 European Indoor Championships. At the 2012 Olympics in London, he finished last in his semi-final heat of the 110m hurdles – the only event that he entered – and thus did not qualify for the final.

Results in the finals of international competitions

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  • Note: Only the position and time in the final are indicated
Year Competition Venue Position Notes
1999 World Youth Championships Bydgoszcz, Poland 1st 110 m hurdles – 13.26s
2000 World Junior Championships Santiago, Chile 3rd 110 m hurdles – 13.84s
2000 World Junior Championships Santiago, Chile 2nd 4 × 100 m relay – 39.33s
2001 European Junior Championships Grosseto, Italy 2nd 4 × 100 m relay – 39.76s
2003 European U23 Championships Bydgoszcz, Poland 1st 110 m hurdles – 13.25s
2003 World Indoor Championships Birmingham, England 4th 60 m hurdles – 7.58s
2003 European Cup Florence, Italy 1st 110 m hurdles – 13.55s
2003 European Indoor Cup Leipzig, Germany 3rd 60 m hurdles – 7.77s
2004 Olympic Games Athens, Greece 8th 110 m hurdles – 13.76s
2005 European Indoor Championships Madrid, Spain 1st 60 m hurdles – 7.50s
2005 World Championships Helsinki, Finland 1st 110 m hurdles – 13.07s
2005 World Championships Helsinki, Finland 1st 4 × 100 m relay – 38.08s
2005 European Cup Florence, Italy 1st 110 m hurdles – 13.16s
2005 European Cup Florence, Italy 3rd 4 × 100 m relay – 38.78s
2006 European Cup Málaga, Spain 1st 110 m hurdles – 13.27s
2006 European Indoor Cup Liévin, France 1st 60 m hurdles – 7.62s
2007 European Cup Munich, Germany 1st 110 m hurdles – 13.35s
2008 Olympic Games Beijing, China 4th 110 m hurdles – 13.24s
2009 European Indoor Championships Turin, Italy 1st 60 m hurdles – 7.55s
2013 Jeux de la Francophonie Nice, France 2nd 110 m hurdles – 13.95s

Track records

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As of 15 September 2024, Doucouré holds the following track records for 110 metres hurdles.

Performances in red text are wind-assisted.

Location Time Windspeed
m/s
Date
Angers 12.97
PB
+ 1.0 15/07/2005
Bydgoszcz 13.23 + 1.9 20/07/2003
Castres 13.38 + 2.6 30/07/2014
Málaga 13.27 – 1.5 29/06/2006
Niort 13.29 + 1.0 05/08/2007
Noisy-le-Grand 13.14 + 1.5 07/06/2005
Oslo 13.00 – 0.1 29/07/2005

References

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  1. ^ "Watford's Abdoulaye Doucouré: 'Being the second-youngest of eight has helped'". The Guardian. 3 November 2017.
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Achievements
Preceded by Men's 110m Hurdles Best Year Performance
2005
Succeeded by
Records
Preceded by Boys' World Youth Best Holder, 110 metres hurdles
16 July 1999 – 2 October 2004
Succeeded by