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Lemaitre and Lavillenie, two Supermen at the Stade de France – Saturday 6 July
With a little less than six weeks till the event, the outline of the MEETING AREVA 2013 is being drawn up with even greater precision. The French stage of the IAAF Diamond League, scheduled for Saturday 6 July in the Stade de France, was already set to boast Jamaican Usain Bolt among its ranks in the 200m.
Now, this line-up will be further fleshed out by two stalwarts of French athletics, pole-vaulter Renaud Lavillenie, Olympic champion in London, and sprinter Christophe Lemaitre, world bronze medallist over 200m in 2011.
Renaud Lavillenie will enter the Stade de France on Saturday 6 July with the avowed aim of adding a fifth consecutive victory to his series of successes at the MEETING AREVA. He won't have to fend off attacks from the German pole-vaulters, who must remain on home soil for their national championships that same day, but he will have to keep an eye on American, Brad Walker, the world's top performer this season with a jump of 5.83m, Greek jumper Kostandinos Filippidis, Diamond League winner on 10 May in Doha with 5.82m, and Briton Steven Lewis, 5th in the London Games.
For Christophe Lemaitre, it's likely to be a considerably more complicated task. The Savoyard runner will unleash his long stride in the 200m, whose dense line-up is rarely encountered in a meeting, with no less than six of the eight athletes having run 19''86 or under over their career. Topping the list is Usain Bolt, the world record holder (19''19). Then in order of their personal bests we have Christophe Lemaitre (19''80), Jamaican Warren Weir (19''84), his compatriot Nickel Ashmeade (19''85), Dutch athlete Churandy Martina (19''85) and finally Jamaican Jason Young (19''86). Other names unveiled by Laurent Boquillet, Event Manager, are:
Kirani James, Olympic and World 400m champion competing over a lap of the track and Frenchman Mahiedine Mekhissi-Benabbad, double Olympic medallist in the 3,000m steeplechase, who has his sights on the European record for the discipline (8'01''18), which has been held since 2009 by compatriot Bouabdellah Tahri. "Our objective is to showcase the talent of the Olympic or World champions in every event and nearly all of them will be in attendance." With regard ticket sales, the horizon is looking very clear too. "We're currently on target to reach some 50,000 spectators", Laurent Boquillet explains. Usain Bolt's presence would enable 10,000 additional places to be sold. Furthermore, an "Everyone at the MEETING AREVA" operation has been set up on AREVA's initiative so that 10,000 young spectators can come along to the Stade de France.
Christophe Lemaitre "I'd like to be invisible"
How do you view your start to the season?
CL: My preparation is going very well. I haven't changed my training routine in relation to last year. I'm doing around the same number of sessions. I feel good and the work has been well done. Up till now though, I haven't yet managed to translate all that onto the competition track. I'm not worried, as I'm still aiming to be at the peak of fitness for the major championship later in the season. However I'd like to get close to 10''10 in the 100m, just to reassure myself. In the 200m, the Montreuil meeting, on Monday 3 June, might enable me to bring down my time, which is set at 20''35.
In your view, is it an advantage to compete in the Stade de France in such a vast arena?
CL: When I run in France, I prefer to do it in a big stadium. I can feel the crowd behind me, which drives me on and I've always been pretty successful in the Stade de France. I have some excellent memories of the place. I'd have loved to have participated in the 2003 Worlds on this track. At the time, I didn't know anything about athletics, but it's likely that I won't have the chance to experience an event such as this at home before the end of my career.
The advertising campaign for the 2013 edition portrays you as the Superman of athletics. Which power would you like to have?
CL: To run even faster. To fly too. Most of all though, I'd like to be invisible. When I was a kid, I dreamed of being able to make myself invisible so I could hide away after doing something silly!
Renaud Lavillenie "I'd like to be Superman"How do you view your start to the season?
RL: I'm satisfied with my preparation. In Forbach, last Sunday, I only jumped 5.45m, but the weather conditions were really very difficult. I used a shorter run-up too. I'm heading to Eugene, on Wednesday 29 May, to compete in the Diamond League competitive entry meeting, on a jumping pit where the record stands at 6.03m. I'll have my sights on the best world performance there (5.83m by Brad Walker). However, above all I'm keen to get to July, a period where I jump higher, and to the MEETING AREVA, in particular, where I always feel fantastic.
In your view, is it an advantage to compete in the Stade de France in such a vast arena?
RL: The pressure is more intense there. As a Frenchman, I don't allow myself to consider defeat. However, I'm taking this situation in the right direction, so as to take advantage of it. At the end of the track, I feel galvanised by the stakes at play, the crowd and the stadium… I reckon that jumping at a big home meeting is an opportunity you need to make the most of.
The advertising campaign for the 2013 edition depicts you as the Superman of athletics. Which power would you like to have?
RL: I would like to actually be Superman, to jump even higher than 6m. However, more seriously, I think that us athletes already have very adequate human talents.
Source: Agence Blanco Negro
