Usain Bolt and Renaud Lavillenie on 5 July in the Stade de France

As such, he will be joining Usain Bolt in the Stade de France arena on Saturday 5 July 2014. Indeed the world’s top athlete, six-time Olympic champion in the 100, 200 and 4×100 m, and the number 1 of French athletics, pole vault gold medallist at the London Games in 2012, have now both signed up for the French stage of the IAAF Diamond League. The Jamaican will line up for the 100m, that will be played out down the straight of the main stand. The Frenchman will take possession of the pit level with the opposite straight. Between them, they could well fill the Stade de France arena and give the meeting line-up a level of prestige worthy of the event.

Usain Bolt is a regular at the Stade de France. He said as much to Laurent Boquillet, the event director: the MEETING AREVA ranks at the top of his favourite meetings of the summer season. “To my mind, this meeting is unique thanks to its atmosphere, its audience and its setting, Bolt admits. Of the schedule as a whole, only the Meeting in Brussels compares in my view.” Such a statement is sure to be appreciated by Bernard Amsalem, President of the French Athletics Federation, whose aim is to offer the best of world athletics to the greatest number of people.

And the audience isn’t likely to be disappointed, as the greatest sprinter in history is making no secret of the fact that 2014 is set to be a record year for him. Free from any major championship, he is aiming to rack up the kind of times he ran in his best years back in 2008 and 2009. In this way, each of his performances is set to impress and it’s worth pointing out that the Jamaican holds the MEETING AREVA records over 100m (9’’79 in 2009) and 200m (19’’73 in 2013).

Like Usain Bolt, Renaud Lavillenie has developed a relationship with the MEETING AREVA, which combines passion and loyalty. The Frenchman senses that he is in his own backyard here. He has never experienced a defeat*. Similarly though, he has never yet cleared 6m or more here as yet. Now ranked second in the world behind Sergeï Bubka (6.15m), after his jump of 6.08m last week in Poland, Renaud Lavillenie is asserting himself not only as the primary attraction in French athletics, but above all as one of the rare international athletes still competing today, who is capable of securing a world record with each performance, as long as conditions allow.

With 5 months to go till the event itself, the MEETING AREVA 2014 can already write in black and white the two names, which will be top of the bill. Two names which, between them, are likely to attract a record audience to the Stade de France.

*     Renaud Lavillenie’s results card within the context of the MEETING AREVA – noting that he also participated in the Meeting Gaz de France Paris Saint-Denis back in 2008 where he secured a 5th place with a jump of 5.50m:
     2013: Winner with 5.92m
     2012: Winner with 5.77m
     2011: Winner with 5.73m
     2010: Winner with 5.91m
     2009: Winner with 5.70m

The ticket office opens this Thursday 6 February 2014  :

1- www.Stadefrance.com
2- In the usual retail outlets (Fnac, Géant, Leclerc, Carrefour and Auchan)
3- Via telephone from France : 0892 700 900 (0.34 euros/minute)

Price for seats:
Finish line category : €70
Start line category  : €50
Category 1 : €40
Category 2 : €20

A new feature for the 2014 edition: the launch of an “Event Day” pack, which gives spectators the chance to go behind the scenes of the MEETING AREVA to witness the athlete’s journey in the back rows of the Stade de France (changing room, call room, tunnel, warm-up stage and track), with the added bonus of a snack in a lounge at the end of the tour and a gift of a vest with a personalised number.
An “Event Day” pack is sold at €120 (Finish line category), €100 (Start line category), €90 (category 1) and €70 (category 2)