Christophe Lemaitre "White Lightning" 9.92 and 19.80! -- Part Two

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NWsoccerfan

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Congrats to Christophe on his olympic performances! I really think his struggles have helped him. He hit the scene with a splash after breaking 10 seconds and had a couple great years, then regressed a little with injuries and confidence issues. But mentally he overcome this in Rio and beat some of the best sprinters on the planet. The mental confidence that he has now, knowing that no matter what he can always come back and beat the best, will always be there in his mind. I think he can run more relaxed now. Hopefully if he has an off race, this will no longer affect him. This mental toughness can make all the difference in sprinting. With all that said, congrats again to Christophe and I predict a low 10.0x this weekend. I think we will see consitently low 10.0x's for a bit before he starts running under 10 again. I do think 9.8x and 19.6x is very possible for him and perhaps even more!
 
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jacknyc

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Yes, congrats to Christophe!
He ran a great race. One great race so far this season.
I think he may do better going forward, I hope so. But I think the above assessment is wildly optimistic.
 
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Madara

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Where is Eliespeeder ? No word to congrats Lemaitre ...

If Lemaitre run sub 10 it will be a total ribitrh ahah.

But if you see, Lemaitre carreer is a success, he can stop his carreer tomorow, we can say nothing. It's for that he must to take risk. (go in another camp of training)
 
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Texas Flash

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Madara said:
Where is Eliespeeder ? No word to congrats Lemaitre ...

If Lemaitre run sub 10 it will be a total ribitrh ahah.

But if you see, Lemaitre carreer is a success, he can stop his carreer tomorow, we can say nothing. It's for that he must to take risk. (go in another camp of training)
Click to expand...

Elispeedster did reply in the Olympics Thread. He even offered his apologies to RCSMAN.
 
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elispeedster

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Madara said:
Where is Eliespeeder ? No word to congrats Lemaitre ...

If Lemaitre run sub 10 it will be a total ribitrh ahah.

But if you see, Lemaitre carreer is a success, he can stop his career tomorrow, we can say nothing. It's for that he must to take risk. (go in another camp of training)
Click to expand...
I offered my congratulations to Christophe and Coach Carraz for a job well done and my apologies to RCSMAN on the Olympic thread. I do expect Christophe to run sub 10 and sub 20 again.
 
mastermulti

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this toughness and determination was what I hoped to see from him again one day - and he showed it.
I agree with Madara that if he stopped tomorrow he has shown himself to be a great success and can be proud of his achievements. This Bronze now bookends his 2010/2011 rise to fame.
I note he is now 84kgs (185 lbs) and not the 74 kgs (163 lbs) of 5 years ago. Stands to reason his body and thus performances have had to adjust to a 13.5% weight increase.
He has nothing to lose for the remainder of this season and could run fast.
Remembering Guliyev ran his 200 PB late last season in Zagreb, peaking after the worlds
 
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jacknyc

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Wait, Christophe has put on 22 lbs since 2010/11?
That doesn't seem possible!
And if it's true, now wonder he hasn't run as fast as he did then!
 
white is right

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jacknyc said:
Wait, Christophe has put on 22 lbs since 2010/11?
That doesn't seem possible!
And if it's true, now wonder he hasn't run as fast as he did then!
Click to expand...
I knew he put on weight but 22 pounds wasn't apparent. He has filled out in his traps and his legs aren't really spindly anymore. He still has pipe cleaner arms but even there they aren't nearly as thin as they were around 2010 when he looked like a half miler. I would say his body looks like an average 400 meter runner now or a slim 200 meter runner. He really still doesn't have the size that would be ideal for the century but adding the bulk that Vicaut has may be too much for his frame and retaining his speed endurance. Also he isn't 5'10" to 6', so a 22 pound weight gain isn't nearly as obvious.
 
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trackster

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I'm late to respond to the Paris prediction thread.

I believe Christophe is overdue for a breakout 100. Put me down for 9.94.
 
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In France, there are a lot of celebrations, a lot of interviews for Christophe, he 's very tired so for Paris it will be very hard to run fast, maybe it will be possible to run fast after Paris
 
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white is right said:
I knew he put on weight but 22 pounds wasn't apparent. He has filled out in his traps and his legs aren't really spindly anymore. He still has pipe cleaner arms but even there they aren't nearly as thin as they were around 2010 when he looked like a half miler. I would say his body looks like an average 400 meter runner now or a slim 200 meter runner. He really still doesn't have the size that would be ideal for the century but adding the bulk that Vicaut has may be too much for his frame and retaining his speed endurance. Also he isn't 5'10" to 6', so a 22 pound weight gain isn't nearly as obvious.
Click to expand...
The weight should not be an issue as long as it is muscle and his strenght-to-bodyweight ratio is higher than when he was at a lighter weight. I am curious of his lifts.
 
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white lightning

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As RCSMAN says he may be really fatigued. He is a hero in France right now. They love the guy. So with all
the publicity and fan fare, we may get a mediocre performance. I'm glad he still has several races left so
hopefully he can go either sub 10 or sub 20. It would be incredible to see him do both for the first time
since 2011 I believe. Hoping for the best. Good luck Christophe!
 
FootballDad

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white lightning said:
As RCSMAN says he may be really fatigued. He is a hero in France right now. They love the guy. So with all
the publicity and fan fare, we may get a mediocre performance. I'm glad he still has several races left so
hopefully he can go either sub 10 or sub 20. It would be incredible to see him do both for the first time
since 2011 I believe. Hoping for the best. Good luck Christophe!
Click to expand...
I just hope he does his best. I always ran well in hot conditions for shorter sprints. 100 was ideal in the heat for me, 200 was more difficult with the added heat for speed endurance, 400 meant I was going to throw up as soon as the race was over. I was pessimistic above when I posted 10.11 as my anticipated time, but I hope that he runs well in a race in familiar territory. That is something that can't be overlooked.
 
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elispeedster

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mastermulti said:
yes, I saw that. He raced as many races as Chistophe in Rio.
Maybe after 2 days extra rest we should expect a good 200 metres from Lemaitre
Click to expand...
If Martina runs a 19.80, Lemaitre runs a 19.6....no way is Martina a better sprinter than Lemaitre, especially at the 200
 
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"Women weaken legs, Rock!" At least the US readers are going to get why, after reading this quote, I've decided that Pierre Carraz's resemblance to Mick in the Rocky movies is more than merely physical:

Pierre Carraz recalls: "Before the London Olympics in 2012, he had a 19'91 in a meeting, he had become very strong. But his girlfriend came down south for an internship and he ate (no) more. He lost 3 kilos. In London he had no more strength. "

Of course, there's something to be said for the wisdom of these crusty, old coaches. Studies have now shown that refraining from sex (or any orgasm) for a few days causes testosterone levels to double. LeMaitre's pre-London sexfest apparently destroyed him, at a time when he seemed like a certainty for a medal. I hope it was worth it.

Another quote from the article mentions LeMaitre's training. Some of the words don't seem translated correctly, but I don't have a sports vocabulary in French:

Trade secret? Race, series, cladding, stretching. Classic, after all. Little weight "because it slows down." And these elastic back for draw weight like a convict. While old method, but it works. The National Institute of Sport, expertise and performance in Paris is this too, but more computerized and with cables. INSEP has done much to recover the Savoyard nugget. Without success. "Christophe's sponsors also wanted it moved to Paris, for them the capital was better to champion a town of 35,000 inhabitants," says Pierre Carraz.
 
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elispeedster

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Ma
trackster said:
"Women weaken legs, Rock!" At least the US readers are going to get why, after reading this quote, I've decided that Pierre Carraz's resemblance to Mick in the Rocky movies is more than merely physical:

Pierre Carraz recalls: "Before the London Olympics in 2012, he had a 19'91 in a meeting, he had become very strong. But his girlfriend came down south for an internship and he ate (no) more. He lost 3 kilos. In London he had no more strength. "

Of course, there's something to be said for the wisdom of these crusty, old coaches. Studies have now shown that refraining from sex (or any orgasm) for a few days causes testosterone levels to double. LeMaitre's pre-London sexfest apparently destroyed him, at a time when he seemed like a certainty for a medal. I hope it was worth it.

Another quote from the article mentions LeMaitre's training. Some of the words don't seem translated correctly, but I don't have a sports vocabulary in French:

Trade secret? Race, series, cladding, stretching. Classic, after all. Little weight "because it slows down." And these elastic back for draw weight like a convict. While old method, but it works. The National Institute of Sport, expertise and performance in Paris is this too, but more computerized and with cables. INSEP has done much to recover the Savoyard nugget. Without success. "Christophe's sponsors also wanted it moved to Paris, for them the capital was better to champion a town of 35,000 inhabitants," says Pierre Carraz.
Click to expand...
Maybe Christophe needs to chase a chicken and drink a glass full of raw eggs....Yo Adrian
 
mastermulti

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elispeedster said:
If Martina runs a 19.80, Lemaitre runs a 19.6....no way is Martina a better sprinter than Lemaitre, especially at the 200
Click to expand...

he has more sub 20s and times very close to Lemaitre.
I remember their epic London Crystal Palace 2012 battle over 200 (19.91 v 19.95) where these two put over 5 metres between them and the rest of the field.
I never pictured Christophe as a "mad rooter" (old Australian vernacular). Hope his lesson was learned
 
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