Libania Grenot


Libania Grenot Martinez is a Cuban-born Italian former athlete specialising in the 400 metres. Two times European champion, she holds the Italian records in the 200 and 400 metres.

Biography

Born in Santiago de Cuba on 12 July 1983, Grenot started running at the age of 9. In 2003–05, she was a Cuban champion in the 400 metres. In 2006, she married an Italian man and relocated to Casal Palocco, a XXXIV zone of Rome.
Grenot acquired Italian citizenship in 2008, and that same year, she broke an Italian record in the 400 meters with a time of 51.05 s and then 50.83 seconds. The latter performance took place at the Beijing Olympics during the semi-final, but despite this effort she did not reach the final. In 2009, she won a gold medal in the distance at the XVI Mediterranean Games with a time of 50.30 s, a new Italian record.
In 2014, she won a gold medal in the 400 metres at the European Championships, becoming the first Italian woman to win an international track title since 1938. Grenot repeated this achievement two years later.

Statistics

National titles

Grenot won seven national championships at individual senior level.