French athletics is regaining some color. After a week marked by the positive test for steroids of hurdler Dimitri Bascou, and the serious injury of Just Kwaou-Mathey, world medalist in the 60m hurdles this winter but therefore forfeited for the Olympic Games, several Blues shone this weekend and moved closer to qualifying for Paris 2024.
The start of the weekend was first marked by the great performance of Clément Ducos in the 400m hurdles. The Frenchman took second place in this event at the Tom Jones Memorial held in Florida in a time of 48″26. The one who studies and trains in the United States has become the fifth best French performer in history over the distance and has exceeded the Olympic minimums, set at 48″70. At the same time, he beat his personal best by almost a second (49″06).
Gémima Joseph very close to the 11 second barrier over 100m
The next day, on the same Gainesville track, hurdle specialist Cyréna Samba-Mayela made a very good comeback. Silver medalist at the World Indoor Championships this winter, the athlete from Lille Métropole Athlétisme beat her personal best in the 100m hurdles in 12″65. She had achieved a very nice 12″51 in series, five hundredths faster than the French record co-held by Monique Ewanjé-Epée and Cindy Billaud, but which cannot be approved due to too strong a wind (+2, 5 m/s, the limit being set at 2 m/s).
Finally, during the Guyana Games in Remire-Montjoly, sprinter Gémima Joseph achieved a magnificent 100-200 m double. Already present at the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2021, at just 19 years old, she set two great times: 11″04 over 100 m, then 22″57 over 200 m. Two times synonymous with personal records and especially Olympic minimums.
🏃♀️100M – TOP 7 MPF 🇫🇷 OF ALL TIME:
1. Christine Arron 10.73 RF
2. Marie-José Pérec 10.96
2. Muriel Hurtis 10.96
4. Carolle Zahi 11.01
5. Myriam Soumaré 11.03
6. Laurence Bily 11.04
6. Gémima Joseph 11.04 🆕#Athletics pic.twitter.com/i2SlpkaaZJ— MR.CARTER (@NelsonCarterJr) April 13, 2024
“It’s the first time I’ve run with so many Guyanese people in the stadium and it carried me,” she exulted afterwards at the microphone of the 1st. I’m really happy. It’s just beginning, the work continues. » With this new record over 100 m, she enters the top 6 of the best French performances in history.
