By Emmanuel Faith with additional reporting by Ben Gilby (30/8/23)
Above: Salma Paralluelo representing Spain at an indoor competition. Photo: Villarreal CF.
When the final whistle was blown in the World Cup Final, a major name in the heart of everyone is the Spanish wonder-kid Salma Paralluelo whose crucial goals in the quarter and semi-finals got the La Roja to the final in the first place.
Like the parable of talent, some people excel in multiple endeavours. Paralluelo is one of them, and this article highlights other footballers who were once known names in other athletic sports.
Allysa Thompson
From running 100 metres during her junior high school in 11.69 seconds to being the youngest player in the U.S. Women’s National team, things move pretty fast for the Angel City forward. The teenager who made her debut at the recently concluded World Cup, was previously a runner at Harvard-Westlake before being scouted for the National team. While she had to drop athletics to focus on preparing for her debut, her 100 meters school record will not be broken anytime soon.
Chioma Ajunwa
When you hear the name Chioma Ajunwa, you will likely remember her record-breaking long jump at the 1996 Olympics hosted in Atlanta. You might even talk about her illustrious career as a Deputy Police Officer, what you will however find more fascinating is that Ajunwa was part of the Super Falcons team that played at the Inaugural FIFA Women’s World Cup in 1991.
Although she claims not to regret leaving football for Athletics, rightly so as she became the first African male or female to clinch an individual gold at Athletics, one could only imagine how exciting it would be to have her on the football pitch.
Rachael Nachula
Having participated in the 2006 Commonwealth Games, 2006 Junior Championships, and 2008 World Indoor Championships, the Zambian striker won the bronze medal at the 2008 African Championships and clinched the silver medal at the 400m competition at the 2009 African Junior Athletics Championships before switching to football in 2017.
Although she didn’t make her first competitive appearance for the Copper Queens till 2017, the team won’t forget her contributions to their brilliant display at the 2019 COSAFA competition where they had an exciting run to the finals before bowing to South Africa. Despite the loss, Nachula won the Golden Boot with 10 goals, including her eight-goal contribution to the 15-0 mauling of Mauritius. A performance that will earn her a professional contract with the Spanish side- Zaragoza CFF.
Elyse Perry
One of the world’s best-ever cricketers, Perry is a Commonwealth Games gold medallist, a two-time World Cup winner, and a six-time T20 World Cup winner with Australia. The 32-year-old has a top score of 213 runs, an average of 73 in test matches, and a total of 446 wickets taken over four formats of the game.
However, Perry is also a Matilda, amassing 18 caps and scoring three goals between 2007 and 2013 as a defender, and was selected for Australia in the 2011 World Cup in Germany. In the club game, Perry played for Central Coast Mariners, Canberra United, and Sydney FC – amassing 50 appearances and four goals over an eight-year period. Perry left the round ball game permanently for cricket in 2016 (by Ben Gilby).
Maria Mutola
She is also the only athlete ever to have won Olympic, World, World indoor, Commonwealth Games, Continental Games, and Continental Championships titles in the same event but all this might not have happened if José Craveirinha didn’t discover her track and field potential in 1988, the year she won her felt medal in a track competition.
Before that Mutola played football for a local club Aguiad’Ouro where she went on to win the city’s championships in 1987, her participation was however contested and although FIFA will let her keep the trophy, it was obvious Mutola’s future looked bleak in football. It was during these uncertain times that Jose discovered her, and the rest they say is history.
Mutola dominated the 800m in Africa in the 90s and made major history globally. In fact, she is the fourth female track and field athlete to compete in six different Olympics. Mozambique would always be grateful for her contributions locally and globally but one could but wonder what would have happened if the development of female football started 30 years ago.
Jenna McCormick
McCormick has four caps for the Matildas and is about to enter her 11th year in the W/A-League Women – a period that has also seen the South Australian play club football in Iceland, Norway, Spain, and Denmark. However, the center-back, who has also played as an attacking midfielder, also can lay claim to a successful three years at top-level Australian Rules Football.
The 28-year-old played 20 games for Adelaide Crows, scoring nine goals as her side won two Premierships during her time at the club, the second of which was a 10.3 (63) to 2.6 (18) win over Carlton in front of over 53,000 fans at Adelaide Oval (by Ben Gilby).
Salma Paralluelo
Until a few years ago, Paralluelo was juggling her track and field adventures with her burgeoning football career, that was until she signed with Barcelona two years ago and won the UEFA Women’s Champions League in her debut season.
By the age of eight, she was already running one of the most famous races in Barcelona, the Jean Bouin, which she won for five straight years and would go on to represent Spain in the championships at age 15. An ACL injury meant she had to take a break from both sports and by the time she came back, she rounded up a fantastic football season with Villarreal before signing from the Spanish giants.
Now a World Cup winner at 19, it is unlikely we’d see her in a competitive track and field event again; however, the football pitch will continue to be the stage where her pace and trickery works wonders and produces stunning goals.
Follow Impetus on social media – we’re @ImpetusFootball on Threads, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. DON’T MISS our brand new TikTok platform @ImpetusFootball too!
impetusfootball.org 