Villarreal Femenino Star Salma sets track and field records

Salma Paralluelo is an absolutely incredible athlete. She was a U-17 World Cup and European Champion for Spain in 2018 at the tournaments held in Uruguay and Lithuania respectively, and after this past weekend she owns a whole slew of new track and field records. Oh, and she’s still just 16 years old.

As reported by Heraldo, she now has the best Spanish time for U18, U20, U23, and overall for the 300m hurdles. Other track and field events she competes in include, 100 meter sprint, 400 meter sprint, 400 meter hurdles, medley relay, and indoor marks of 60, 200, and 400 meters. She won the gold medal at the European Youth Olympic Festival celebrated in Bakú in 2019 for the events of 400 meter hurdles and medley relay.

It’s easy to see why she can compete at a senior level in football at such a young age, with that kind of pace, a defender of any experience level will have their hands full. Originally from Zaragoza with Equatorial Guinean ancestry, she joined Villarreal at the beginning of last season and also works with Felix Laguna at athletics club Playas de Castellón. The ability to do both at high level has been cited in the past as big part of why she came to Villarreal.

The potential for Salma’s future is limitless. She could very easily find herself competing in the European Championships or Olympics in either football or athletics, and frankly, at her age I will not be the one to say she cannot do both. We are thrilled to have her at Villarreal and we hope she is still pulling on the yellow shirt well beyond her current contract, which extends until 2023.