Christophe Lemaitre, Renaud Lavillenie and Usain Bolt to fortify field at the 2011 Meeting AREVA
Show of ‘power’ or ‘potential’ is a common phenomenon which is usually utilised to warn expected rivals of dire consequences in case they try to trespass a territory. The phenomenon is rather the same for the athletics world, albeit, with the amendment that
athletes show it for discouraging their competitors and for hindering them from appearing in the contest.
This phenomenon can be seen in its full swing as the prestigious event of ‘MEETIN AREVA 2001 – Samsung Diamond League’ has been announced to commence on Friday, July 8, 2011.
Keeping in mind the upcoming athletics event to be held in the French capital, athletes have started focusing on their form, fitness and performances, and those who have got a chance to observe the Montreuil Meeting last week, will agree with the fact that
they have already started to show the muscle to their potential rivals.
With the mega event of Samsung Diamond League one month away, Lemaitre, the 21-year-old French sprinter who specialises in 100m and 200m competitions, and who carries a personal best of 9.96 seconds (for 100m), has marked a new French record for the above
mentioned PB.
Another prominent athlete to appear in the upcoming event with the expectations of stealing the lime light is Renaud Lavillenie, who marked his dominance by earning a season’s world lead in Pole Vault for a formidable performance of 5.83m. Given the quality
of such world-class performances, Laurent Boquillet, the director of the MEETING AREVA was perhaps right in the view when he said that athletics was now going to make headlines.
Commenting upon his performance at Montreuil, Lemaitre, the young, yet emphatic runner expressed his views in the following words, “I didn’t expect to run so fast, especially given the weather conditions at the Montreuil Meeting. As such I can conclude that
I’ve made progress in relation to last year (in Paris) I stayed quite far behind Yohan Blake (9.95 compared with 10.09).”
He said that after working out his time, presently he was merely 1/100 behind. After the latest trainings he has had, the French runner was of the view that he was feeling more powerful and confident amid the better techniques he was relying upon. However,
discarding the possibility of resting, he said that he had not finished with his workout yet, and was toiling to increase his frequency rather than the range of his strides.
Talking about a possible encounter with the world’s fastest sprinter, Usain Bolt, who is also expected to appear in next month’s much awaited event, Lemaitre said, “Bolt beat me in Rome in the 100m last month (9.91 compared with 10.00), but the whole Diamond
League series has been an inspiration to me. To find myself so close to him and Powell and being able to go so fast, from as early as May, convinced me that I’d turned a corner.”
He concluded his remarks by saying that he was looking forward to compete Bolt in 200m run at the Stade de France.
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