MEETING AREVA 2011 – BOLT, LEMAITRE, LAVILLENIE and all the others on 08 July at the Stade de France

This year boasts a fortunate coincidence in the athletics calendar. Two of this season’s most eagerly awaited French athletes, Christophe Lemaître and Renaud Lavillenie, have made it into the event just hours before the 1 month countdown to the MEETING AREVA 2011 begins.

The first has done so by racking up a new French 100m record, with a time of 9''96 at the Montreuil Meeting. The second has pulled off the best world performance in the pole vault, during the same competition, with a jump of 5.83 m. This double hit is something that Laurent Boquillet, director of the Stade de France meeting for the eighth stage of the Samsung Diamond League 2011, views as a sign. One thing for sure is that "athletics is now going to make headline news."

With exactly a month to go until the event itself, everything is good to go. Over 15,000 tickets have already been sold, which is considerably more than at the same time last year. Such initial results augur well for the organisers who now have their hopes on final crowd figures of close to 50,000 spectators. "People now do a lot of last minute buying, explains Xavier Bersot, Administrative and financial director. The date of 8 July is more favourable than last year, since it is situated prior to the mass exodus from Paris for the summer holidays on 14 July."

The line-up also promises a fine evening of athletics. Usain Bolt, who has attended the event for the past two years, will once again be one of the main attractions of the MEETING AREVA.
# He'll be competing in the 200m, the final event of the programme (2146 hours local time), where he'll run against Christophe Lemaître, his compatriot Yohan Blake and, if everything goes to plan, fellow Jamaican, the young Nickel Ashmeade (19''95 this season).

# The 110m hurdles, another high point of the meeting, will witness a straight fight between the American David Oliver, last year's winner with a time of 12''89 (United States record), and the Cuban Dayron Robles, world record holder with a time of 12''87.

# The American Jeremy Wariner, undefeated on the Stade de France track, is likely to be the favourite in the 400m, against the Belgian Jonathan Borlée, the South African L.J. Van Zyl, world number one of the season in the 400m hurdles, and subject to confirmation, another South African, Oscar Pistorius, a star of disabled athletics.

# In the 1,500 m, the duel between the Moroccan Amine Laalou (3'29''53 last year) and the reigning Olympic champion, the Kenyan Asbel Kiprop, could well set the stopwatch spinning.

# Furthermore, with two Kenyans, Paul Koech and Ezekiel Kemboi, taking the start of the 3,000m steeplechase, the pace isn't likely to drop off, especially with the organisers still in negotiations about the added appearance of two French athletes, Mahiedine Mekhissi-Benabbad and Bouabdellah Tahri.

# The top names will also be performing in the field competition. Among these are the American Jesse Williams (2.34m early in the season) and the Russian Ivan Ukhov in the high jump. The Panamanian Irving Saladino and the American Dwight Phillips are set to compete in the long jump, a sport where the public may also be lucky enough to see a performance by French athlete Teddy Tamgho, the world number one of the season in the triple jump.

# In the pole vault, Renaud Lavillenie will be virtually jumping on home soil as he lines up against France's best (Romain Mesnil, Damiel Dossevi and Jérôme Clavier) and the German Malte Mohr (5.81m this season).

The same abundance of talent is also in evidence in the women's events.

# Veronica Campbell-Brown will do battle with her compatriot Kerron Stewart and French athlete Myriam Soumaré in the 100 m.

# Caster Semenya, the world 800m champion, will be making her debut in Paris against the English athlete Jennifer Meadows, Kenyan Janeth Jepkosgei and French athlete Hind Dehiba.

# The Amercian Lashinda Demus, leading the world in the 400m hurdles (53''31), will be challenging the Olympic champion, Jamaican Melaine Walker.

# In the shot put, the Byelorussian Nadzeya Ostapchuk will be seeking to confirm an auspicious start to the season which involved a throw of 20.59m.

# Finally, the javelin competition could well enable the Czech Barbora Spotakova, the Olympic champion, to carry through what has been a promising start to the year.

On the occasion of the MEETING AREVA 2011 a new track will be inaugurated, clad in identical Mondo covering to that of the Olympic stadium in Beijing, as will a more suitable sound system to satisfy the needs of both athletics in general and its public. As regards the entertainment, which is resolutely ‘sporty', there will be a few surprises in store at the very end of the programme. All that can be said at this stage is that Usain Bolt will have a starring role.   

3 questions to… Christophe Lemaître Christophe, what lessons have you learnt from your French record in the 100m with a time of 9’’96? I didn’t expect to run so fast, especially given the weather conditions at the Montreuil Meeting (14° during the 100m). As such I can conclude that I’ve made progress in relation to last year. At the Meeting AREVA 2010, I stayed quite far behind Yohan Blake (9’’95 compared with 10’’09). Right now I’m just 1/100th behind. I’m more powerful and have a better technique. However, I still have to work on my race finish and go for frequency rather than range in terms of my stride. How’s the rest of your season shaping up? I’m going to run in Stockholm, in the European Cup (18-19 June), doubtless in the 100, 200m and the relay, then in Lausanne (30 June), at the Meeting AREVA in Paris’ Stade de France (8 July), in Monaco (22 July), then at the French championships (28 to 30 July). I’ll then return to Aix-les-Bains to train with a view to the world championships in Daegu. A word about your duel with Usain Bolt in the 200m at the Meeting AREVA… He beat me in Rome in the 100m last month (9’’91 compared with 10’’00), but the whole Diamond League series has been an inspiration to me. To find myself so close to him and Powell and being able to go so fast, from as early as May, convinced me that I’d turned a corner. I’m really looking forward to running with him again in the 200m at the Stade de France.   3 questions to… Renaud Lavillenie Renaud, what condition are you in for tackling the summer season? My indoor season has been so successful that I’m tackling the summer with a great deal of confidence and calmness. Last winter, I achieved all my objectives: the European title in Bercy, a jump of 6.03m and some fine victories. All of a sudden I’m feeling less pressure and I feel cooler about it. You attacked Sergueï Bubka’s world indoor record (6.15 m) after your victory in Bercy in March. Is your mind on this record? Yes. Prior to the European championships in Bercy, I’d never really had a go at it. In Bercy, I could see that I didn’t yet have the legs for it, but I wasn’t far off. With the indoor competition I still have to make up 12 centimetres. It’s a lot and not very much at the same time. By continuing to make progress, I can seriously consider it. Ultimately Steve Hooker may well take part in the Meeting AREVA. Is it a nice surprise? Yes. I like meeting up with him as his presence pushes me to go higher. Having Steve Hooker in the competition makes it a safe bet that there will be a good battle with some interesting heights. Our confrontations have often been thrilling. However, the Australian isn’t my only adversary. The German Malte Mohr (5.82m this season), set to participate on 8 July at the Stade de France, is also very dangerous. He’s becoming more consistent as he progresses.

The ticket office :  1- At Stadefrance.com 2- In the usual networks and retail outlets (Fnac – Carrefour – Auchan – Virgin – E.Leclerc – Géant) 3- By telephone on 0892 700 900 (0.34 Euro/min) The rates : Finish Category Arrivée : 65 € Category 1 : 40 € Category 2 : 20 €

More informations visit www.meetingareva.com