04 July, 2015

The Greek celebrates, Lavillenie disappointed

Greek Konstantinos Filippidis stood out in the pole vault competition at the MEETING AREVA, thus depriving Renaud Lavillenie, just fifth, of a seventh victory at the Stade de France.

A big disappointment for Renaud Lavillenie, who had hoped to dominate for a seventh year in a row at the Stade de France and finally clear 6m in front of a home crowd. The Olympic champion and world record holder could not better 5.71m and finished fifth at this MEETING AREVA 2015. Victory went to the Greek, Konstantinos Filippidis, just minutes after his compatriot Nikoleta Kiriakopoulou, took victory in the women’s competition. Filippidis (28 yrs) improved on his own Greek record by taking the win with a jump of 5.91m. In this way, he joins Renaud Lavillenie at the head of the Diamond League ranking. Brazilian Thiago Braz takes second place with a jump of 5.86m and American Sam Kendricks completes the podium with a jump of 5.81m. Frenchman Kevin Ménaldo secured a solid fourth place with a personal best to boot (5.71m). The third Frenchman in the running, Valentin Lavillenie, cleared 5.56m and finished tenth.