A real massacre: the French athletics Championships, scheduled from Friday 25 to Sunday 27 June in Angers, are marked by a cascade of forfeits among the French headliners, a very worrying situation one month before the opening of the Games.
This annual meeting is supposed to be a necessary step before each major international competition, but this time it is especially the heavy absentees who are talking about them.
Injured or in poor shape, no less than five big names in this sport (Quentin Bigot, Pascal Martinot-Lagarde, Pierre-Ambroise Bosse, Jimmy Vicaut, Christophe Lemaitre) who defected this week, causing concern while the departure for Japan is fast approaching.
If the vice-world hammer champion Quentin Bigot, a real possibility of a medal at the Olympics, was reassuring despite a contracture in the back, fears are more acute for his other comrades.
Pascal Martinot-Lagarde has not regained full possession of his means since his hamstring injury this winter. Unable to pass an obstacle for the moment, the European gold medalist over 110 m hurdles does not panic and waits for better days but time is running out.
The 100m European record holder (9 sec 86) Jimmy Vicaut, who feels muscle discomfort, does not want to take the slightest risk either. As for Pierre-Ambroise Bosse, whose career has been declining since his world title over 800 m in 2017, he has barely returned from injury (left leg) and has not yet run outdoors this season.
The podium chances at the Olympics were already very hypothetical for these two athletes, they are now a miracle.
Mekhissi attraction
The bronze medalist in the 200m in Rio, who will not be in Angers due to “bad reactions to the Covid-19 vaccines” according to his entourage, has still not met the chronometric criteria whose deadline is set for June 29, barely two days after the end of the French Championships.
The Savoyard, who comes out of several failed seasons, only has the 4×100 m relay as a lifeline to reach Tokyo. But he is only the 16th Frenchman in the distance … In other words, his presence in Japan is very uncertain.
The overall picture is therefore hardly shining for French athletics, which comes out of two major failed competitions (10 medals including three gold at Euro-2018, two medals and no title at the 2019 Worlds).
There will still be a few stars to spice up the program in Angers, host of the competition for the third time in a row before the Olympics.
On pole vault, Renaud Lavillenie will be looking for an 11th national crown. The 2012 Olympic champion, who was deprived of the indoor Euro due to injury after a very promising start to the year (6.06 m on February 27 in Aubière), will try to confirm his return to form (5.92 m on Sunday in Chorzow).
Mélina Robert-Michon, who will try to afford a 20th record title at 41, is also gaining momentum as she demonstrated on Saturday in Vénissieux by making her best throw for nearly four years (65.30 m) .
All the lights are also green for Alexandra Tavernier (hammer) and Wilhem Belocian (110m hurdles), declared candidates for the podium in Tokyo.
But the big draw of the weekend may well be Mahiedine Mekhissi. The three-time Olympic medalist, who missed the Doha Worlds in 2019 to undergo Achilles tendon surgery, has not run a 3000m steeplechase since Euro-2018. If he wants to play his 4th Olympic Games, the five-time European champion will not have the right to make mistakes in Angers.
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