With 12 days to go until the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, French athletics continues to do well. Ryan Zézé was a new illustration of this on Sunday in La Chaux-de-Fonds (Switzerland). In ideal conditions, at an altitude of 1,000 m and with a favorable wind (2 m/s), the sprinter achieved an exceptional time in the 200 m, finishing under 20 seconds for the first time (19″90). This is the second best time in history for a French athlete, behind Christophe Lemaître and his 19″80 in 2016.
Zézé smashed his record by more than three tenths and, with this performance, won the race hands down. As if by a twist of fate, he set this mark on the same track where his brother Méba-Mickaël had also clocked a time under 20 seconds (19″99). This represented the second French performance in history, now overtaken by his little brother Ryan Zézé, four years his junior.
Qualified for the Olympics in the 200m, the 26-year-old Frenchman has succeeded in his bet and can aim for at least a qualification in the final. These results would have allowed him to qualify for the Olympic final in 2021 in each of the three semi-finals. This time of 19″90 – set in much more favorable conditions – would put him just off the podium according to Tokyo standards, in a race won by the Canadian Andre de Grasse in 19″62.
