Lilou Ruel

Lilou Ruel (born 9 May 2003) is a French freerunner and parkour competitor.

Early life and education Ruel was born in Mont-Saint-Aignan, Normandy. As a young child, she lived in Turkey for two years. Upon returning to France, the family settled in Plaisance-du-Touch, a suburb of Toulouse.

Ruel's first foray into sports was tennis and speed skating.

Ruel completed her Baccalaureate in Economics and Social studies at Lycée de Tournefeuille in 2021. After taking a gap year, she began studying to become a stuntwoman at Campus Univers Cascade in Northern France.

At the 2021 Red Bull Al-Andalus, Ruel won the women's event. Later that year, she won gold in the women's freestyle event and silver in women's speed at the 2021 Freerunning and Parkour World Cup in Sofia, Bulgaria.

In May 2022, Ruel became the first woman to try and complete the 4.5m gap/15m tall 'Manpower' jump in Évry, France. That year she also won three medals: bronze in the women's category at the Parkour World Championships, bronze in women's speed and bronze in women's freestyle at the Parkour World Cup.

In July 2024, Ruel performed in the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics, being one of nine people to portray a masked torchbearer. She reprised the role for the Olympic Champions Parade in September 2024.