Gateshead, last Sunday, or the perch by the little story. The cold, the rain, the wind, the bad luck. “Mondo showed it to me. There was a hole in the track between 16.75m and 17.20m. “The perfect race disruptor …
Forced to change his momentum, to jump closer, Valentin drops his pole on a rail. Summary of the Frenchy’s Diamond League: the next blow, the pole explodes. “I fall back on the carpet, a little loose, a little stunned, my hand a little blue. “
Go up bars
The athlete, who has seen others, then sets off to storm the competition with a different pole, which is too big; more choice. Sees, at the moment of the dive, the bar drop, blown by the wind, starts again, always finds himself too close, in short! Ends with a bubble. And philosophy: “Every year I do one; this is my zero for the year. But there for the bad luck, it is the pinnacle, I am quiet for two years ”.
Then, the Clermontois hardly held the umbrella above Kendricks’ head. “I mostly raised the bar with Cole Walsh because the judges were struggling to do it” …
Diamond League: Valentin Lavillenie had a difficult evening in Gateshead
This English cowling, not enough to shower the enthusiasm of the current national leader. Out of a starry winter: French indoor champion “ahead of all the French”, vice-European champion “in front of all Europeans except Duplantis. “And, in the offseason, went through a dream Californian internship. “I did four big pole vault sessions at Chula Vista and I’ve never been so good.” Measured in figures: 5 bars erased at 5.70 m and one at 5.75 m.
His wings of America, the younger Lavillenie would have liked to deploy them from Ostrava, for his return. The Czech freshness brought him up to 5.60 m. But also on the podium behind the Swedish prodigy (5.90 m) and the American Kendricks (5.85 m). “The vice-champion and the world champion, cool! “
So Gateshead next … “If spring is rotten, no big deal, we will have summer”, pushes back his natural optimism. In accordance with his concrete calendar for the Games, he is a member, with Renaud, of the small circle of the 7 athletes who have priority for the Olympic selection.
5.90 m in the lead
The simple competitive state of form must stamp his Tokyo visa. Nevertheless, the Auvergnat wants to go through a peak perf. The 5.90 m. “But I didn’t set a deadline in my head and if I only have to do them once, I’d rather it be in Japan,” he smiles, thinking of those medal guests as the sky. brought down at each Olympiad on the saltire rings.
Everything remains in good time. “I am not 100% focused on the Olympics, he recalls. I am turned on all the competitions ”. In Chorzow, this Sunday, the one whose career could have ended two years ago, that his heel nags and who knows that he will be a nasty old man, wants “to win and beat my record (5.82 m). “
Thus, by dint of crunching in his sport, he establishes a new status. Between locomotive and inspiration. “Coming back to where I came from, doing what I do… Young people and coaches take me as an example. Me, my objective is not to be a driving force, but respect for the elders is very important to me. All the messages I received after my return, after Europe, from Jean Galfione, Seb Homo, Gérald Beaudouin, that has value. “
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Its season:
May 19. 5.60 m (3rd) in Ostrava (CZE).
May 23. 0 to Gateshead (GBR).
May 30. European Team Championships in Chorzow (P0L).
June 6. Hengelo (NED).
June 19. Chorzow (POL).
June 27. Elite French Championships in Angers.
1st of July. Oslo (NOR).
4th July. Stockholm (SWE).
11 July. Sotteville-lès-Rouen.
July 31. Olympic Games in Tokyo (JPN).
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Francis Laporte
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