France\’s Djhone fit, Pognon plans 200m assault – European Athletics (EAA) – News

French 400m record holder Leslie Djhone sustained a calf injury while training in Mauritius this week but still plans on opening his season at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Shanghai on 23 May.

"The injury is slight. I had planned to race in Mauritius this weekend but now I'm not going to because I would risk all the hard work I've done," Djhone told local media there on Friday.

Djhone, the fifth fastest European of all time with his French record of 44.46 that he ran at the 2007 World Championships in Osaka, added the French indoor record to his list of accolades this winter with a run of 45.85 at the French indoor championships in February.

Despite being in good shape, and potentially a medal contender, he chose not to go to the World Indoor Championships in Doha, Qatar, last month.

"My sole focus this year is on winning my first European individual title at the European Athletics Championships in Barcelona this summer," said Djhone in March, explaining his decision. He also made headlines during the winter when he ran a European indoor 300m best (there are no official records for the event) of 32.47.

Djhone was part of the victorious French 4x400m relay team at the last European Athletics Championships in 2006 and also took the 400m bronze medal in Goteborg, when his compatriot Marc Riquil won in 45.02.

He has been training in Mauritius for several weeks with the French 100m record holder Ronald Pognon, whose mark of 9.99 makes him one of only five European sprinters to have gone under the famed 10-second barrier.

"Like Leslie, I've been working hard. My focus this year is on the 200m and beating the French record of 20.16. I'm quite close to it already so why not fight to beat it," said Pognon.

The French 200m record has stood for nearly 23 years to Gilles Quenherve, who set the standard when winning the silver medal at the 1987 World Championships.

Pognon, now 27, was the 2001 European Athletics Junior Championships gold medallist over the distance and has a best of 20.27, which dates from 2005, but has not concentrated seriously on running the event for several years until now.

However, Pognon may have some stiff competition in the race for the French 200m record. The 2009 European Athletics Rising Star of the Year Christophe Lemaître, who set a European junior 100m record of 10.04 last year when he won the 2009 European Athletics Junior Championships gold medal, has said that he also plans to have several outings over the longer distance this summer.

European Athletics (EAA) – News