Zoë Sedney

Zoë Frederique Sedney (; born 15 December 2001) is a Dutch athlete who competes in the hurdles, 100 metres, 200 metres, 400 metres and 4 × 100 metres relay. Sedney won two gold medals at the 2017 European Youth Summer Olympic Festival. As a senior in 2021, she competed in both the European Indoor Championships and the Summer Olympics. In 2022, she became part of the 4 × 100 metres Dutch relay team, competing together with her older sister Naomi Sedney.

Early life Zoë Frederique Sedney was born on 15 December 2001 in Zoetermeer, Netherlands. She has two older sisters, of whom Naomi also became a sprinter, and a younger sister.

At the age of five, Sedney joined track and field club ARV Ilion in Zoetermeer. Until the age of 14, she combined athletics with playing field hockey at hockey club MHCZ in Zoetermeer. Sedney ended up competing in the 200 metres and 100 metres hurdles, winning gold in both disciplines. At the same competition, she also competed with the Dutch relay team (Sedney, Minke Bisschops, Suzanne Libbers, and Anna Roelofs), winning silver in the 4 × 100 metres relay.

In 2018, Sedney went back to Győr, this time to compete in European U18 Championships. Sedney competed in the 100 metres hurdles, winning silver in 13.34 s.

In 2019, Sedney dealt with a hamstring injury, complicating her preparations for the European U20 Championships in Borås, Sweden. Sedney competed in the 200 metres where she reached 10th place and in the 4 × 100 metres relay where she won silver with the Dutch relay team (Bisschops, Sedney, Demi van den Wildenberg, and N'ketia Seedo).

2020 was the last year Sedney competed as a junior, she ended her junior career with 3 junior national titles in the 100 metres hurdles, 100 metres and 200 metres. She was called "the uncrowned queen of the national junior championships", becoming Junior National Champion 20 times and winning silver three times and bronze twice during her time as a junior.

Senior career In 2021, Sedney competed in her first international senior competition at the European Indoor Championships in Toruń, Poland. There she made it to the finals of the 60 metres hurdles and finished in 7th place in 8.00 s. In the summer of 2021, Sedney competed in the 100 metres hurdles in both the European U23 Championships in Tallinn, Estonia and her first Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan. In the European U23 Championships Sedney finished 4th in 13.14 s. In her first Olympic Games, Sedney finished 7th in her heat in 13.03 s. This was not enough for a place in the semi-finals as Sedney needed a time of 13.00 s to go through to the next round. Sedney had the 24th time overall in the heats.

Sedney started 2022 winning races at the World Athletics Indoor Tour in Birmingham and Madrid, and becoming national indoor champion on the 60 m hurdles. In March, Sedney represented the Netherlands in the World Indoor Championships in Belgrade, Serbia. She placed for the finals after winning her semi-final in 7.95 s. In the finals, Sedney finished 6th in 8.07 s. In the outdoor season, Sedney competed in both the World Championships in Eugene and the European Championships in Munich. In Eugene, Sedney finished 6th in her heat of the 60 metres hurdles in 13.38 s. This was not enough to progress to the semi finals. In the 4 × 100 metres relay, the Dutch team (Andrea Bouma, Zoë Sedney, Bisschops, and Naomi Sedney) stranded in the heats as well, finishing 6th in their heat. In Munich, Sedney competed in de hurdles and relay as well. In the hurdles, Sedney finished 7th in her semi-final after a fall during her practise starts. In the relay the 4 × 100 metres, Dutch team (Seedo, Zoë Sedney, Jamile Samuel, and Naomi Sedney) finished 5th overall.

In 2023, Sedney went to her second European Indoor Championships, this time in Istanbul. Sedney stranded in the semi-finals of the 60 metres hurdles, finishing 10th overall in 8.06 s. Sedney debuted on the 400 metres at the preprogramme of the Fanny Blankers-Koen Games, setting a personal best of 52.85 s. Throughout the season, Sedney went on to improve her personal best numerous times. At the 2023 European Athletics U23 Championships in Espoo, she improved her personal best to 52.02 s finishing 4th. Sedney went with the 4 × 400 metres relay team to the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest, but did not run. She was in the stands cheering on the Dutch team (Eveline Saalberg, Lieke Klaver, Cathelijn Peeters, and Femke Bol) as they won the gold.

Personal bests Information from her World Athletics profile unless otherwise noted.

International competitions

Circuit wins World Athletics Indoor Tour 60 m hurdles indoor wins, times (in seconds) specified in parentheses: 2022 (3): Meeting Metz Moselle Athlélor (8.00 ), Birmingham Indoor Grand Prix (8.02 ), World Indoor Tour Madrid (8.08 )

National championships 2016 Dutch U18 Indoor Combined Events Championships Apeldoorn 8th Pentathlon 3394 pts Dutch U18 Indoor Championships Apeldoorn 3rd 60 m 7.86 Dutch U18 Championships Breda 2nd 100 m 12.13 2nd 100 m hurdles (76.2 cm) 14.09 1st 400 m hurdles 1:02.36 2017 Dutch U18 Indoor Combined Events Championships Apeldoorn 1st Pentathlon 3601 pts Dutch U20/U18 Indoor Championships, U18 Events Apeldoorn 4th 60 m 7.72 1st 60 m hurdles (76.2 cm) 8.62 Dutch U18 Combined Events Championships Emmeloord 1st Heptathlon 5103 pts Dutch U20/U18 Championships, U18 Events Vught 4th 100 m 12.06 1st 200 m 23.92 1st 100 m hurdles (76.2 cm) 14.22 2018 Dutch U18 Indoor Combined Events Championships Apeldoorn 1st Pentathlon 3832 pts Dutch U18 Indoor Championships Apeldoorn 1st 200 m 23.95 1st 60 m hurdles (76.2 cm) 8.46 Dutch Indoor Championships Apeldoorn 1st 200 m 24.19 Dutch U18 Combined Events Championships The Hague 2nd Heptathlon 5259 pts Dutch U18 Championships Emmeloord 1st 200 m 24.02 1st 100 m hurdles (76.2 cm) 13.32 2019 Dutch U20 Indoor Combined Events Championships Apeldoorn 1st Pentathlon 3887 pts Dutch U20 Indoor Championship Apeldoorn 1st 200 m 23.71 Dutch U20 Championships Alphen aan den Rijn 1st 100 m hurdles 13.83 1st 200 m 23.63 Dutch Championships The Hague 5th in semifinal 100 m 12.05 2020 Dutch U20 Indoor Championships Apeldoorn 1st 60 m 7.55 1st 200 m 23.80 Dutch Indoor Championships Apeldoorn 2nd 60 m hurdles 8.18 Dutch Championships Utrecht 3rd 100 m hurdles 13.30 Dutch U20 Championships Amersfoort 1st 100 m 11.62 1st 200 m 23.83 1st 100 m hurdles 13.34 2021 Dutch Indoor Championships Apeldoorn 2nd 60 m hurdles 7.98 Dutch Championships Breda 2nd 100 m hurdles 13.13 2022 Dutch Indoor Championships Apeldoorn 1st 60 m hurdles 7.98 Dutch Championships Apeldoorn 2nd 100 m 11.32 2nd 100 m hurdles 13.09 2023 Dutch Indoor Championships Apeldoorn 5th 60 m 7.34 Dutch Championships Breda 5th 400 m 53.71