Ragna Debats is a Dutch trail runner who became the world champion in both Trail Running and Skyrunning in 2018, one of the most decorated single-year runs by any athlete in the sport. Born on March 22, 1979, in the Netherlands, Debats came to running late, taking up the sport at age 28 in 2009 after a youth focused on competitive horse riding.
Her career breakthrough came in 2017 with the European Ultra-Distance Skyrunning Championship at Val d'Isère's Ultra SkyRace. The following year she added the International Skyrunning Federation world championship at the Ben Nevis Ultra and the Trail Running World Championships gold medal at Penyagolosa, Spain, on an 85-kilometer course with nearly 5,000 meters of elevation gain. Debats also won the Snowshoe Running World Championship in 2017.
Her ultra-distance racing has produced wins at Marathon des Sables (2019, the first Dutch winner), CCC at UTMB Mont-Blanc (2019, 12:18:57), Transvulcania (2019, 8:09:25), and Transgrancanaria (2022, 16:00:14). Based in Spain with her partner, fellow ultra-runner Pere Aurell, Debats continues to compete on the Skyrunning and UTMB World Series circuits.