Christophe Lemaitre "White Lightning" 9.92 and 19.80!

Lemaitre's next target: sub-20

Lemaitre qualified for the final in 20.58 after an erratic bend. One hour later, Lemaitre, in lane 5, was ideally placed with Alerte in line of sight and had the best start. Alerte ran the best bend overall but the young prodigy injected an acceleration with 120m to go and entered the homestretch in front. His lead increased until the finish line, and the time, 20.16, matched the previous national record set by Gilles Quénéhervé in 1987. Lemaitre also bettered the U23 European record previousl held by Christian Malcolm at 20.19 since 2000.

"I really was surprised to come out of the bend in front of David,"Â￾ the winner said. "A usual I just wanted to run at 100% and win the title, and eventually it turned out that I did a good time, even if I would have preferred to break the French record."Â￾

"Coming into Valence, I was thinking more about the 100m record, which was more important than the 200m because I only ran a few 200m and I needed competitions to know my real level."Â￾

"If I continue to improve can break the 20 seconds,"Â￾ Lemaitre said. "Now I'm dead tired but this was good preparation before Barcelona . My next race will be the 100m in Paris Saint-Denis Diamond League against the World's best."Â￾

 

http://translate.google.com/translate?tl=en&sourceid=ie8-activity&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.francesoir.fr%2Fautres-sports%2Flemaitre-n-pas-fini-de-nous-etonner

 

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< id=tts_flash code="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=5,0,0,0" id=27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000 width=18 height=18>< NAME="_cx" VALUE="476">< NAME="_cy" VALUE="476">< NAME="FlashVars" VALUE="">< NAME="Movie" VALUE="http://www.gstatic.com/translate/_p.swf">< NAME="" VALUE="http://www.gstatic.com/translate/_p.swf">< NAME="WMode" VALUE="Transparent">< NAME="Play" VALUE="0">< NAME="Loop" VALUE="-1">< NAME="Quality" VALUE="High">< NAME="SAlign" VALUE="">< NAME="Menu" VALUE="-1">< NAME="" VALUE="">< NAME="AllowAccess" VALUE="always">< NAME="Scale" VALUE="ShowAll">< NAME="DeviceFont" VALUE="0">< NAME="Movie" VALUE="0">< NAME="" VALUE="">< NAME="SWRemote" VALUE="">< NAME="Movie" VALUE="">< NAME="SeamlessTabbing" VALUE="1">< NAME="Pro" VALUE="0">< NAME="ProAddress" VALUE="">< NAME="Pro" VALUE="0">< NAME="AllowNetworking" VALUE="all">< NAME="AllowFullScreen" VALUE="false">24 hours after the first white man to go under ten seconds on 100m Christophe Lemaitre won the title over 200m in 20 "16 (wind 1.2 m / s) equaling the old record of France Gilles Quénéhervé, which dated from 1987. Savoyard 20 years has been the real star of the championships of France of high quality.

Spectators standing applauding wildly ... Last night at the stage Pompidou Valencia, Christophe Lemaitre is found in King Day. First on the top step of the podium. Then when signing lane 4 of the runway, forever immortalized by his historic 100m on Friday. As the stars on Hollywood Boulevard ...

The Aix has been the star of the championships of France of high quality. "One of the best in history in terms of performance, even advances Bernard Amsalem, the president of the French Federation. It is true that Teddy Tamgho the triple jump, Renaud Lavillenie, magnificent in the pole (5.94 m) and Bouabdellah Tahri of 3000 m steeplechase, to name a few, have been great champions.

Towards the doubled 100-200 m in Barcelona
But these three, like others, have made themselves upstaged by Lemaitre. On Friday, the Frenchman came in the history of his sport by becoming the first white man to go under ten to 100 m. And yesterday, he has done it again by winning the 200m in 20 "16, with a new record for France, just tied this time. But what a record, that of Gilles Quénéhervé, which was dated September 3, 1987 in Rome, where the Briton had won the World silver. The 14th European performance of all time and the best of 2010. What has strongly revived the debate about doubled its best championships 100-200 m of Europe. An assumption on which the person does not adhere to the time (see cons below), unlike federal officers, for sure, the binding on the half-lap. Without this necessarily want to say that to run the 200m in Catalonia. The outcome of 100 m and physical state after three straight lines will help to refine the position.

Carraz: "I do not believe so much in 200 m"
For his part, Pierre Carraz, coach of AS Aix-les-Bains, does not show too hot. Admits to being undecided on the issue because with the 4x100 and more ... "This study. The first step seems easier to achieve than 200 m to 100 m. On the other hand, Christopher wants to buy the 100 meters, the race queen ... I said that day where he would run under ten, would begin ... And that's bullsh*t. But these are good concerns. "

In any case, the student has wowed master this Saturday. "I do not believe so strongly in the 200 meters today," admitted the coach. "He had a good hare Alert front. I told him to check into the turn then to highlight and accelerate gradually in a straight line." What Aix has done to the letter. "He ran like an old fox," laughs Carraz.

Christian Lemaitre him, had another strong emotion on seeing her son off the clock irresistibly and panic. "It will make me crazy, this kid, he blurted. But it was a weekend sublime." Many will remember

 

Just to remind you guys. The big meets are usually on Saturday or Sunday alot. The Paris Diamond League Meet is on Friday Night! It's going to be exciting under the lights. We all know he has no chance against Bolt or Powell at this stage of his career but it still has me pumped up! If he can get a good start, a 9.95 is easily with in reach! I would love to see another p.b. against 2 of the top 3 sprinters in the world!

 

Your partially right mastermulti but rememeber how bad the media is. I have watched boxing since the 1970's. I was told from the time I was very young that only blacks could box. Only blacks could be champions. While I never believed this, most of my white friends did. Some of us are mentally strong while most are not. Other than Tommy Morrison having a brief but exciting career, it was like what they said was true. The thing is though that they steered young white kids away from boxing but making them believe that they couldn't compete. The same thing has happened in track.
Look at the Klitschko Brothers. They have dominated the Heavyweight Division like no one since Marciano. Ali, Holmes, Tyson, Holyfield, and Lewis had their time but it didn't last. The Klitschkos have the highest k.o. percentage of any heavyweight boxer in history. Yet they are ignorred. While I don't think every jounalist, media outlet, or fan is this way, most are. The K2 Brothers should be considered with the best of all time but they are ignored. Sorry to go off topic but this relates to Lemaitre.

I hope the media and people are fair to him but I doubt it will happen. It is the constant white hatred from around the world that stops most white athletes from getting the credit they deserve. I just want you to consider that and understand that there are two sides to every discussion. Thanks for listening my friend.

Back to Lemaitre. No matter what happens, we need to spread the word about this kid. He deserves to be in the spotlight. He is a star just like the big three. He is also humble like Tyson Gay and that makes him even more likeable. Christophe also is still a kid at only 20 years of age. He has that youthful exuberence that all of us had at one time. He fears no one and believes he can conquer the world. You have to love the kid for that. Who wouldn't root for this guy? Good luck to Pepe this Friday.

If I had any advice for Christophe, I would just say to stay relaxed. Treat this race no different than any other race. Staying loose helps you to run faster. I'm sure he knows this but it never hurts to repeat the advice. Also I would tell him to visualise the race. Mentally picture yourself winning. Never, ever line up with out believing you can win. It will help him to continue to get faster. Advice from someone who knows. Good luck to "The Master".

 

http://www.diamondleague-paris.com/en/News/NewsArticles/Bolt-News-N5/?Template=News

 

Great post. If he can explode out of the blocks, a personal best is a sure thing in my opinion.Even though in his best races outdoors in 2010, his starts have been below average. Hoping with the sub 10 thing off his mind, he can relax and react to the gun better. We will see in another 4 days. It's going to be a short week for him to try and get prepared for one of the biggest races of his life. This kid is so mentally strong though and I think he will do just fine.

 

Just to let you guys know how tough a race this is Friday. Eight of the Nine Sprinters running in Paris have gone sub 10! That is like an Olympic Finals. Amazing group of elite sprinters so even if he finishes back in the pack, understand that he is racing the majority of the worlds best sprinters. Nerves could play a factor. I still feel that he will do good but I don't want us to expect miracles. We know he won't beat Bolt or Gay this early in his career and alot of the other guys have went sub 10 many times. So let's be positive but remain realistic. Here is an interview with Usain Bolt and what he has to say about the race.



<H1>News - 12.07.2010</H1>
<H2>Bolt on Paris 100m: ‘On Friday I think we will see a serious race' â€" Samsung Diamond League
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Usain Bolt12 July 2010 - Paris, France â€" Friday night will mark the season's first head-to-head between Usain Bolt and the man whose 100m World record he took, Asafa Powell. And Bolt, like the entire athletics world, is eagerly anticipating the race.

For the second consecutive year Bolt will be the headline attraction at the Meeting AREVA - SAMSUNG Diamond League to be held at the Stade de France in the outskirts of the Paris on Friday 16 July.

The 23-year-old Samsung Diamond League Ambassador arrived in the French capital today to meet with the press and share his ambitions for his third 100m outing of the season. After a satisfying season's debut in Daegu in early May, where he clocked 9.86, the triple Olympic and World champion had to cancel several meetings in June due to an Achilles tendon injury.

Not yet ‘100 percent'

"I'm in good shape,"Â the Jamaican insisted. "I'm not yet 100 percent, maybe 80 percent. As long I'm running in a straight lane, it's good."Â

"The last time I spoke to my coach and my doctor, they told me not to run the turn for two weeks, and they said that maybe there won't be any more 200m races for me this season,"Â Bolt said, adding that according to his doctor, he should be fully mended in five weeks.

"Currently, I train as much as I can depending on the travel schedule. I trained on Saturday and Sunday, and did some good starts and felt pretty well, but I try to be as cautious as possible."Â

Bolt returned to competition at the Samsung Diamond League fixture in Lausanne last Thursday with an impressive 9.82 dash to match the world Lead set by the former World record holder and fellow Samsung Diamond League Ambassador Asafa Powell in Rome.

Immediate goal? 9.7

The race on Friday, scheduled for 21:46 local time, offers an exceptional field where eight of the nine competitors have sub-10 second personal bests. At the press conference, Meeting Director Laurent Boquillet announced the start list and lane draw: 1. Churandy Martina (AHO); 2. Richard Thompson (TRI); 3. Yohan Blake (JAM); 4. Usain Bolt (JAM); 5. Christophe Lemaitre (FRA); 6. Asafa Powell (JAM); 7. Daniel Bailey (ANT); 8. Martial Mbandjock (FRA); 9. Ronald Pognon (FRA).

"I'm looking forward to run 9.7 based from what I did in Lausanne. I ran 9.82 there in pretty good conditions, but when you know that the competition level is higher, you can expect a better time."Â

Confident, but ‘not unbeatable'

Last year, Bolt set the stadium record with 9.79 despite unseasonably cool temperatures and a slight but steady rain.

"On Friday I think we will see a serious race as Asafa said he is ready for me! I've seen him once this year, in Lausanne, and haven't competed against him yet this season. He is in great shape. He has been injury free and consistent around 9.8."Â

Powell was the last to beat Bolt in the 100m, edging him in Stockholm two years ago. Bolt has since remained undefeated in both the 100 and 200m.

"I had two goals this year: to stay unbeaten and injury free. The second one hasn't worked, but I'm working hard on the first one."Â

"However, I'm not unbeatable, whether I'm fit or not fit. Everything can happen even if I'm having a good day, and I try to give my best anytime. It doesn't bother me too much to stay unbeaten, though, because my coach taught me how to win and how to lose. When I lost in Stockholm, my coach was actually happy because he knew I was going to be more focused and work harder."Â

However, Powell won't be the only challenger in Paris.

"Overall the field is a good one with (his training partners) Blake, Bailey and all these guys capable of running under 10 seconds."Â

The latest addition to that club is 20-year-old Frenchman Christophe Lemaitre, who clocked 9.98 on Friday. "I met him last year. He is stepping up his game so I will keep an eye on him. When you go under 10 seconds it gives you more confidence to run even faster. He just has to stay focused and work hard."Â

Bolt was also presented with a surprise - a plaque with his footprint will be placed in the mythical Stade de France, built to host the 1998 Football World Cup, beside a similar plaque dedicated to French football star Zinedine Zidane. As a huge fan of football, Bolt was keen to comment on the final between Spain and The Netherlands which took place the previous evening.

"It was definitively a good game. Spain deserved to win although I wish there were more goals. Personally, I wanted The Netherlands to win, since almost no people in Jamaica were supporting them and I decided to be with the minority."Â

As one of the world's most famous athlete, Bolt has an important role to play which he accepts with humility.

"I still consider myself as an up-and-coming athlete. I'm still in last place and at the back of the line compared to Jamaican legends Don Quarrie or Merlene Ottey."Â

"However, I'm conscious there are always a lot of people watching me and I try to be a role model for them, I live my life right and do my best. I'm involved in many activities to raise funds for my foundation which is involved in education and development of hospital material. There are a lot of problems in Jamaica regarding violence, my government has to put effort into it and I definitively can help too."Â

With four days until the race, Bolt has time to relax and has already made his plans.

"I will train of course and also spend some time downtown, the shopping capital of the world. That's why I love Paris so much!"Â

Pierre Jean Vazel for the IAAFEdited by: white lightning

 

This is one unbelievable lineup. Wariner and Borlee are in the 400 as well. Here is a link to the starting lineup. This is about as hard as it gets with the exception of Gay not being entered. All of the other big names are there!



http://www.diamondleague-paris.com/Glob ... u%20UK.pdf
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<DD></DD></DL>Edited by: white lightning

 

If he gets a good start, I predict a 9.95 in this race. Just please don't false start. That would be devastating right before the Euros. It's also his first time ever racing in Paris!