This Sunday, in Monaco, Jimmy Gressier recovered his due. The 25-year-old French cross-country skier, back from an internship in Kenya, broke the European record for the 5km road, in 13′12″. He improved by two seconds the time of Yemaneberhan Crippa (13′14″) in a discipline where the world record and continental records have only been recognized for a few years. He had already held it between 2020 and 2022, before the Italian dispossessed him.
If he stayed away from the world record, held by the Ethiopian Berihu Aregawi (12′49′’ in 2021), the Frenchman largely imposed himself on the “Monaco Run” in front of a strong opposition: the South- Sudanese Dominic Lobalu, 2022 revelation of the world fund, is 2nd at 12 seconds; Ugandan 5000m world bronze medalist Oscar Chelimo is 3rd at 20 seconds; and German European marathon champion Richard Ringer is 4th at 20 seconds as well.
The weekend had however started badly for him: Saturday, a strike of the signalmen in Orly had prevented him from taking his plane towards Nice. The six-hour train journey, which saw him disembark in Monaco late in the evening the day before the race, does not seem to have affected his form. With full confidence, Gressier will now be able to devote himself to one of his major objectives for the season: the Paris half-marathon on March 5, which no Frenchman has ever won.
