Paula Sevilla
Paula Sevilla López de la Vieja is a Spanish athlete. She was the Spanish 100m national champion in 2019 and 2020. In 2022, she became the Spanish national champion in 200m, and in 2025 Spanish indoor champion over 400 metres. At the 2025 European Indoor Championships in Apeldoorn, Netherlands, she tied the national record over 400m while winning the bronze medal.
Career
Sevilla was part of the Spanish team that won gold at the 2017 European Athletics U23 Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland in the women's 4x100m relay. In 2022, Sevilla's new personal best time of 22.86 placed her as the second fastest Spanish woman over 200m of all time, behind only Sandra Myers. When subsequently winning the Spanish national athletics championships shortly afterwards Sevilla actually ran a lower time than her new personal best, winning in a time of 22.73, but it was classified as a wind assisted race.Sevilla was part of the Spanish team that finished fifth at the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon, twice breaking the Spanish national record. The team had initially broken the national record running 42.61 in the qualifying heats to qualify for the final. In the final the following day they lowered the national record again, to 42.58 seconds.
She was then announced as part of the Spanish team for the 2022 European Athletics Championships in Munich. In Munich, Sevilla competed individually in the 200m and finished tenth fastest in the semi-finals. The relay team finished fourth in the final with a time of 43.03 seconds.
She ran as part of the Spanish relay team at the 2024 World Relays Championships in Nassau, Bahamas. She was selected for the 2024 European Athletics Championships in Rome in June 2024. She competed in the 4 x 100 metres relay at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
In February 2025, she moved to second on the Spanish all-time indoor 400 metres list behind only Sandra Myers, running 51.20 seconds to win the Spanish Indoor Athletics Championships. Competing at the 2025 European Athletics Indoor Championships, she won her 400m semi-final in a time of 51.23 seconds. In the final, she equalled the Spanish indoor record of 50.99 seconds to win the bronze medal behind Lieke Klaver and Henriette Jæger. She was selected for the Spanish relay pool for the 2025 World Athletics Relays in China. In the 4 x 100 metres relay she was part of a team alongside Jaël Bestué, Esperança Cladera, and Maria Isabel Perez who won their opening race ahead of Jamaica containing Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Shericka Jackson, with a time of 42.18 seconds, setting a Spanish national record, and ensuring qualification for the 2025 World Championships. On the second day she won a gold medal with the women’s 4 x 400 metres relay team.
She ran a personal best 50.92 seconds for the 400 metres at the 2025 Bislett Games in Oslo on 12 June 2025. Competing for Spain at the 2025 European Athletics Team Championships, she ran a personal best 50.70 seconds for the 400 metres. At the championships, she was also part of the Spanish 4 x 100 metres team, again alongside Esperança Cladera, Maribel Perez and Bestue, which broke their own Spanish record, running 42.11 seconds. On 29 June she ran as part of the Spanish mixed 4x400 metres relay team which set a new national record time of 2.20.4.
She was selected for the Spanish team for the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Japan, running on the opening day in the mixed 4 × 400 metres relay. She ran a personal best of 50.89 seconds and reached the semi-finals of the women's 400 metres. She also ran in the women's 4 x 100 metres relay at the championships as the Spanish team finished fifth overall.