In a long interview with Le Monde, Maria (name changed), former partner of Wilfried Happio, publicly denounces for the first time the violence she allegedly suffered at the hands of the athlete, European vice-champion in the 400m hurdles in 2022.
Facts that date back to 2018 and 2019, when Maria shares her life with the native of Bourg-la-Reine and which could push her to file a complaint “soon”. In Le Monde, Maria reports a “huge punch in the head” but also Wilfried Happio’s “blunders”. The young woman also explains that she did not want to report these facts to the French Athletics Federation (FFA), “for protection”.
A new case for Happio who disputes the facts
In 2020, Wilfried Happio had already been accused of violence by triple jumper Janet Scott, with whom he had briefly shared his life. Facts that had not earned him any conviction, the victim having decided not to file a complaint and the FFA disciplinary committee having acquitted him.
But a second case involved the hurdler in 2022. In June, a complaint for sexual assault was filed against him by the sister of the man who had attacked him before his final at the French Championships in Caen. The athlete was taken into police custody in December and the complaint was dismissed in 2023.
Contacted by Le Monde, Wilfried Happio’s lawyer Anthony Mottais responded that the athlete “obviously denies being a violent or misogynistic man, or any other description that could be used in this spirit” and that he “disputes the facts that Maria is accusing him of.”
Wilfried Happio has been selected to participate in the Paris Olympic Games, which will begin for him with the 400m hurdles heats on August 5, with athletics scheduled for the second round of the Games. And according to Le Monde, which cites the FFA’s ethics and professional conduct charter, his participation could be called into question. “A selectable or selected athlete may not be proposed for selection or be withdrawn from it until the date of the technical meeting of the event for which he is entered during the competition, in particular for the following reasons: (…) serious disciplinary or ethical reasons,” the federation wrote.
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