Maria Isabel Perez, also known as Maribel Perez, is a Spanish track and field athlete, who competes in sprints and relays. She is an Ibero-American Championships bronze medalist, multiple national champion, and Olympic competitor, who is one of the most prominent and talented athletes in the country. She holds the national record in the 60m and 4x100m relay.
Maria Isabel Perez was born on March 1, 1993, in Seville, Spain. She started in athletics at an early age and showed great skills and talents in sprints. She became a national junior champion in 60m in 2010 and won the bronze at the Xativa Spanish Junior Championships in 2011. She was considered one of the biggest Spanish athletics talents at that time.
Maria Isabel Perez started her competitive career in 2008. Although being only 9 years old she won the 60m bronze at the Monachil Control Meeting. Two years later she won the Oviedo Spanish U18 Indoor Championships title in 60m and earned the bronze at the senior Aviles Spanish Championships in 4x100m relay. Meanwhile, she finished 4th at the Madrid Spanish Club Championships in 100m.
In 2011, Maribel Perez started the season by winning the 60m bronze at the Sabadell Spanish Indoor Junior Club Championships, before earning the 60m silver at the Monachil Control Velocidad y Saltos and 100m silver at the Madrid Spanish Club Championships, as well as the 4x100m relay gold at the Zaragoza Campeonato de Espana de Federaciones.
Although she started strongly her career and had great talent, Maria Isabel Perez still failed to make some significant international achievements during the next seasons. She competed in the 4x100m relay at the Barcelona IAAF World Junior Championships in 2012 but did not overcome the heats. At the 2013 Gateshead European Team Championships she finished third in the 4x100m relay but in Final 2, again missing the honor. Only in 2014, she succeeded in earning the bronze in the 4x100m relay at the Braunschweig European Team Championships. During the same season, she also competed at the Zurich European Championships in the 4x100m relay but did not overcome the heats again. Meanwhile, she earned the silver at the Alcobendas Spanish Championships.
In 2015, Maria Isabel Perez earned the 100m bronze at the Castellon Spanish Championships, but her biggest achievement during the season was winning the 4x100m relay bronze at the Monaco Herculis although not in a Diamond event. Meanwhile, she earned the 100m silver at the Tarragona Spanish U23 Championships and Valencia Spanish Club Championships.
Maria Isabel Perez continued gaining success in athletics and competed in 4x100m at the Roma Golden Gala in 2016, finishing 4th. In the same event, she won the gold at the Mersin ECCC Group A and the silver at the Gijon Spanish Championships. Individually, she earned the 100m silver at the Gijon Spanish Championships and also she finished 5th at the Mersin ECCC Group A and 6th at the Madrid Meeting 2016.
In 2017, Maria Isabel Perez started the season by winning the 60m gold at the Madrid Spanish Indoor Club Championships and the 60m silver at the Salamanca Spanish Indoor Championships. During the outdoor season, she won the 4x100m relay gold and 100m bronze at the Barcelona Spanish Championships.
Maribel Perez made another great achievement in 2018, winning the 100m gold at the Birmingham ECCC Group A. She continues by triumphing with the 100m title and 4x100m relay silver at the Getafe Spanish Championships. Meanwhile, she earned the 4x100m silver at the Tarragona Mediterranean Games and finished 8th in the 4x100m relay at the Berlin European Athletics Championships.
Maria Isabel Perez earned another national honors in 2019, winning the 100m and 4x100m relay silver medals at the La Nucia Spanish Championships. Meanwhile, she won the 4x100m relay silver at the Meeting de Paris.
In 2020, Maria Isabel Perez finished 4th in 60m at the Meeting de l’Eure, before winning the 60m gold at the Ourense Spanish Indoor Championships. During the outdoor season, she won the 100m gold at the Reunion de Lanzamientos and Madrid Copa Iberdrola Oro, where also triumphed in the 4x100m relay.
Maribel Perez continues being one of the top sprinters in Spain and showed great results in 2021. She won the 60m silver at the Madrid Spanish Indoor Championships and competed at the Torun European Athletics Indoor Championships. At the Chorzow European Athletics Team Championships Super League and Marseille Meeting International, she finished 5th, while at the Getafe Spanish Championships, she earned the gold in 100m. She was part of the Spanish 4x100m relay for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Chorzow World Athletics Relays but did not overcome the heats in both.
Maria Isabel Perez started the 2022 season with the 60m gold at the INIT INDOOR MEETING Karlsruhe and Dynamic New Athletics Indoor Match in Glasgow, before winning again the Ourense Spanish Indoor Championships. At the Beograd World Athletics Indoor Championships, she finished 6th in the semi-finals and missed to compete for honors, but showed her great skills. During the outdoor season, Maribel Perez won the 100m bronze at the La Nucia Ibero American Athletics Championships and La Nucia Liga Iberdrola de Clubes. She finished 6th in 100m and 4th in the 4x100m relay at the Munich European Athletics Championships, as well as 5th in the 4x100m relay at the Eugene World Athletics Championships.
In 2023, Maria Isabel Perez already has proved herself as the top sprinters in Spain. In 60m, she earned the gold at the Malaga Indoor Match, as well as the silver at the Meeting de l’Eure and Madrid Spanish Indoor Championships, but also finished 6th at the ORLEN Copernicus Cup in Torun. In 100m, she earned the silver at the Meeting de Atletismo Toni Bonet and finished 4th at the 12th International Meeting “Citta’ Di Savona”.
Maria Isabel Perez competed in her second Olympics at the Paris Games in 2024. She was part of the Spanish 4x100m relay but did not overcome the heats. However, in the relay, she earned the bronze at the World Athletics Relays Bahamas 24 and the gold at the Penn Relay Carnival, as well as finished 4th at the Roma European Athletics Championships. Individually, during the season, Maria Isabel Perez won the 100m gold at the Míting Internacional Ciutat de Barcelona, 100m silver at the Desafio Nerja and Meeting Guadalajara Atletismo Puma, as well as 60m silver at the Ourense Spanish Indoor Championships.
Maria Isabel Perez, also known as Maribel Perez, is one of the top Spanish sprinters, and her achievements in sprints and relays are remarkable for the country. Although still young she has a big experience in athletics and will be the leader in future international competitions.
Maria Isabel Perez photos
