In front of 14,568 spectators won over by the show at Charléty Stadium, the athletes proved that they were in excellent shape with a little over a month until the start of the Worlds in London! Starting with the Jamaicans. Elaine Thompson, the queen of the sprint, performed true to form, winning the 100m, whilst Novlene Williams-Mills (in the 400m) and Ronald Levy (in the 110m hurdles) flew the yellow, black and green flag with pride. However, they weren’t the only ones to shine in the stadium where, swathed in a temperature of around 20°C, twenty personal bests and a national record (that of Cyprus in the 110m hurdles thanks to Milan Trajkovic) were broken. This was notably the case for Christian Taylor, the only Olympic champion (with Elaine Thompson) to have secured a win this Saturday in Paris, in the triple jump. The same was true for Mutaz Essa Barshim in the high jump, Edris Muktar in the 3,000m and Sifan Hassan in the women’s 1,500m, who pulled off some stellar performances. However, four medallists from Rio didn’t manage to secure victory this Saturday: Thomas Röhler finished third in the javelin, Omar McLeod (knee injury) was seventh in the 110m hurdles, Faith Kipyegon was second in the 1,500m and Ruth Jebet, who had her sights on the second world record in a row at the MEETING DE PARIS, came fourth in the 3,000m steeplechase after a fall.
Mayer thrills the crowd, Lavillenie a little disappointing
And the Frenchies in all that? Mixed results. Eagerly awaited by the public, Renaud Lavillenie, disturbed by the wind, couldn’t better second, behind the American Sam Kendricks in the pole vault. Garfield Darien, three days on from beating his personal best, secured what he considered to be a fine third place in the 110m hurdles, and Carolle Zahi broke her 100m record, gaining her a place at the Worlds in London. However, the athlete who the French public most warmed to was Kevin Mayer. The Olympic silver medallist in the decathlon won the very first triathlon organised at the MEETING de PARIS, beating his personal best in the javelin and in the 110m hurdles. Like all the evening’s winners, Mayer will line up for the season’s major meeting in the English capital brimming with confidence. For the others, there is still a lot of hard work to be done, but however things play out, we can already set a date for the MEETING de PARIS 2018, on 30 June!
