Renaud Lavillenie still not within the Olympic minimums at the Perche des Alpes meeting – Libération

The double Olympic medalist is still looking for a bar of 5.82 m, necessary for qualification for the Paris Games. This Wednesday, June 19, he failed at 5.60 m in Montbonnot-Saint-Martin, at the foot of the Chartreuse massif.

Under a leaden sky and a veiled sun, in a heavy and humid heat, around 30 degrees, Renaud Lavillenie did not achieve the feat this Wednesday evening at the Perche des Alpes meeting, in Montbonnot-Saint-Martin, near Grenoble (Isère). In front of a large audience, almost 2000 people, at the foot of the mountains of the Chartreuse massif, the 37-year-old former Olympic champion was unable to pass the 5.60 meter mark, far from the 5.82 meters necessary for a qualification for the Paris Games this summer…

However, some had come on purpose from the other end of the Grenoble metropolitan area to support him, like Alexandra, in her forties: “It would be so great if he could be in Paris! We are behind him… even if I find it hard to believe it!” Lavillenie, left knee strapped due to his ischio injury, displays a closed face. Concentrated, he only passed his first bar, at 5.40 meters, on the second attempt. The audience warmly encourages him. Jérôme, a local trail runner, holds his breath: “Renaud, it’s a myth. Even if he is not in great shape, he is magnificent to watch jump. I would really like him to be able to make the Games again!”

Gold medal in 2012 in London, silver medal in 2016 in Rio, holder of a world record time (6.16 meters, in 2014), the Clermontois now faces the bar placed at 5.60 meters. After two unsuccessful first attempts, he came close to succeeding on the third attempt, narrowly passing the bar, which bounced once, seemed to stabilize… then fell. A loud cry of disappointment rises from the audience. Renaud Lavillenie goes back up the track, greeted by a clamor, with a sad face and unable to hide a slight limp.

“The stakes in Paris are such that it is impossible for me to give up on the way”

“It’s obviously frustrating, even if I expected everything and nothing when I came to this meeting,” he analyzes. It’s the worst scenario to miss like that on a third try. With my back against the wall, I forced myself on this last attempt, I put all my energy into it and I only missed a little bit of success: the bar moves, seems to hold… and does not want to stay in place !” However, he does not give up and does not regret having, at the last moment, chosen to participate despite his injury in this meeting in the Alps, in addition to the last two meetings which remain for him to qualify for the Games, in Toulouse this Saturday then at the French Championship in Angers on June 29 and 30.

“I’m in a complicated situation of course, but today I took information, reference points, produced jumps with good intensity, and without pain: it’s already a good step, he confides , without showing the slightest despondency. I will continue to work and reshuffle my cards for Toulouse. The best way would of course be to rest, but the stakes in Paris are such that it is impossible for me to give up on the way!” Expected to be the standard bearer of the French delegation, he does not want to “have the slightest regret for this qualifying phase”. He says he is ready “to give everything” in Toulouse then Angers: “I still have ten days to grit my teeth, but I am able to run, jump, control the pain… It’s progress!”

The man in great form at this meeting remains, on the other hand, the Grenoblois Thibaut Collet, who was playing at home in this stadium: he passed a bar at 5.95 meters, beating by 3 centimeters his personal best established last February , and achieving the third best world performance of the season… He even made a unique attempt at 6.01 meters, missed but acclaimed with unparalleled fervor and emotion by the local public. A flawless performance for the son of the great champion Philippe Collet, which bodes very well for the Paris Games.