The MEETING de PARIS has treated itself to a line-up where the overseas stars will share the limelight with the France’s best athletes. Undoubtedly, it will be a unique opportunity for the public to celebrate the achievements of the heroes from the Games just a week on from the end of the Olympic events. There is also the promise of an evening where past records will be in danger. Indeed, history has often shown that the first meetings after a planetary meeting are conducive to high performance with the athletes still riding the wave of their peak physical fitness without too great a pressure on their shoulders.
No fewer than eight Olympic champions crowned in Rio de Janeiro have confirmed their presence. All of them have chosen Paris as the venue to extend festivities: Americans Kerron Clement (400m hurdles) and Ryan Crouser (shot put) rank among the male athletes, while Jamaican Elaine Thompson, the new queen of world sprinting (100 and 200m double), Americans Brianna Rollins (100m hurdles) and Tianna Bartoletta (long jump), Kenyan Faith Kipyegon (1,500m), Bahrani Ruth Jebet (3,000m steeple chase) and Croatian Sandra Perkovic (discus) rank among the female contingent.
The Paris meet will give them the opportunity to sport their Olympic title for the first time in the very historic venue that is the Stade de France. Added to that, the athletes could also make the most of the competition in Paris to try to steal the thunder of the Olympic medallists and treat themselves to a revenge match. American Ryan Crouser, who was phenomenal in the shot put final at the Rio Games (22.52m, Olympic record), will have to keep a close eye on the other two medallists from the competition, compatriot Joe Kovacs (21.35m) and New Zealand thrower Tomas Walsh (21.25m). A similar post-Olympic ambiance is likely to envelop the women’s 3,000m steeplechase too, where the top three from the Rio Games – Ruth Jebet, Hyvin Kiyeng and Emma Coburn – will be competing in the Stade de France. Finally, an identical scenario will colour the women’s discus thanks to a remake of the Olympic final with all three of the medallists – Sandra Perkovic, Mélina Robert-Michon and Denia Caballero – in the lead roles.
Certainly one of the star events of the evening, the 100m hurdles, would be well worth a trip to the Stade de France all by itself. In fact, the organisers of the Paris meet have something rather special planned: a four-way face-off between the three American medallists in Rio, Brianna Rollins, Nia Ali and Kristi Castlin, and their compatriot Kendra Harrison, who was set apart on the road to Rio during the Olympic selection rounds, but tops the all-time leaderboard following her world record, 12’’20, set on 22 July 2016 in London. Explosive.
True to form, the MEETING de PARIS will once again have a very French touch this year. Three of the six medallists at the Rio Games will be continuing their Olympic epic at the Stade de France. Christophe Lemaître, a familiar face at the Paris meet, and one of the great surprises of the last Games, will be at the start of the 100m alongside Jimmy Vicaut, Olympic finalist. Renaud Lavillenie, will be keen to strike a blow and lay down the law in a competition marked by the presence of a fellow medallist from the Games, American Sam Kendricks. Finally, the crowds at the Stade de France are sure to reserve a warm welcome for the everlasting Mélina Robert-Michon at the height of what has been an exemplary career.
At the Rio Games, French athletics earned its place in the history books with six Olympic medals secured by both the women and the men, from the sprinting competition (Christophe Lemaître in the 200m), to the hurdling (Dimitri Bascou in the 110m hurdles), to the middle-distance running (Mahiedine Mekhissi in the 3,000m steeplechase), the jumping (Renaud Lavillenie in the pole vault), the throwing (Mélina Robert-Michon in the discus), and the combined events (Kévin Mayer in the decathlon). The crowds filling the Stade de France will salute, appreciate and celebrate their team’s success at the MEETING de PARIS, a festival of athletics for both a French and international audience.
