The Franco Australian athlete is tipped as a future star of the discipline.
Sasha Zhoya LAURENT HUMBERT/COURTESY OF DIOR
French 110-meter hurdles specialist Sasha Zhoya is joining a lineup that already includes champion skateboarder Aurélien Giraud and surfer Kauli Vaast, the French fashion house said Thursday.
“Driven by passion and the desire to excel, the multiawarded international athlete now embodies the contemporary spirit of Dior style, at the crossroads of heritage and reinvention,” the brand said in a statement.
Born in Perth, Australia, to a French mother and Zimbabwean father, the 21-year-old started competing for France in 2020. While he’s considered a key prospect for the country heading into the Paris 2024 Games, he’s been sidelined by injury this season.
Sasha Zhoya LAURENT HUMBERT/COURTESY OF DIOR
French media reported this week that Zhoya would not take part in the European Athletics Championships beginning in Rome on Friday.
The athlete, whose trainer is former world champion Ladji Doucouré, holds the world record for 110-meter hurdles in the under-20 category. For his second season with senior height hurdles, he came in sixth at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest last year.
Zhoya studied ballet and classical dance and is also a gifted pole vaulter.
In addition to its three dedicated male athletes, Dior recently named 15 female athletes as brand ambassadors, including five-time Olympic gold medalist Elaine Thompson-Herah of Jamaica, the fastest woman alive, and U.S. soccer player Alex Morgan.
Dior had previously revealed three joint ambassadors with parent company LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, a premium partner of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games: gymnast Mélanie de Jesus dos Santos, wheelchair tennis player Pauline Déroulède and Para-cyclist Marie Patouillet.
Sasha Zhoya celebrates in the men’s 110-meter hurdles during the European Athletics U20 Championships in 2021. GETTY IMAGES
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