Following an investigation opened by the Paris prosecutor’s office in early summer, after a complaint for sexual assault filed on June 30 by a 19-year-old athlete, Wilfried Happio was placed in police custody on Tuesday morning. The complainant denounces repeated touching which allegedly took place at the National Institute for Sport, Expertise and Performance (Insep), the place where the two athletes trained, on the night of September 20, 2021, on their return from an evening organized by a common sponsor.
After an internal investigation by Insep, Wilfried Happio, 24, was not punished, his lawyer announced in early December. The athlete himself had filed a complaint after being punched in the face on June 25 in Caen during the French Athletics Championships by the complainant’s brother.
Great hope of French athletics, Wilfried Happio shone on the track this summer by becoming European vice-champion in the 400m hurdles in August in Munich, after coming close to the medal at the World Championships in Eugene (Oregon) in July thanks to a dazzling chronometric progression.