Christophe Lemaitre "White Lightning" 9.92 and 19.80!

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whiteathlete33

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So close yet so far away.
smiley6.gif
 

Finn_Track

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He ran a decent race in great conditions. In the replay it showed (a split screen of him and Powell running ) his effort was too forced/unnatural his cheeks and facial expressions showed that. When you are sprinting fast you HAVE to be relaxed, anyone who is familiar with sprinting knows this.

The kid obviously has huge pressure on him with everyone expecting him to run a sub-10 100m every race he is competing, and this really shows.. lets give him some time guys.
 

whiteathlete33

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Hopefully in time he will break 10 seconds. We've had so many disappointments in the past with good white sprinters who were very close to breaking that elusive mark but never did.
 

Finn_Track

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He has run 4 times sub 10.10 (2x 10.09, 10.06, 10.04) so it will only be a matter of time if he stays healthy..
 

freedom1

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How could they forget his f'ckin shoes for such an important race!?!

I don't think Satan wants the white man to break this barrier.
smiley18.gif


Anyone know when his next race is??

The pressure is going to be on him just like it was for Shirvo, maybe even more. There's no way to put that Genie back in the bottle. He has to overcome it.
 

trackster

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Incidentally, LeMaitre's reaction time was very poor--2.08--but Powell's was even
worse! The key was the first half of the race. Just because Bolt is a freak, we musn't forget that it's very tough for a tall man to master the first 40 meters of a 100. Christophe's a future Olympic champion in the 200, if he ever concentrates on that distance.
 

white lightning

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Wrong. I think that Christophe has more potential in the 100. He doesn't run the curve very well. He will be a good 200 runner but I don't see him going sub 20 on a normal basis. He should stick with the 100. This was a nice race despite the bad start. To finish 2nd with the pressure he was under is great in my opinion. Remember after two false starts, he probably sat in the blocks a little longer just to make sure he didn't get disqualified.

Congrats Christophe on another sub 10.10 race. No white sprinter in history has ever done what you have and all at the age of 19. Happy birthday to him tommorow.
 

Jimmy Chitwood

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he posted a great time. congrats to Christophe!



sub-10 will come. time is all he needs.
 

white is right

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freedom1 said:
How could they forget his f'ckin shoes for such an important race!?!

I don't think Satan wants the white man to break this barrier.
smiley18.gif


Anyone know when his next race is??

The pressure is going to be on him just like it was for Shirvo, maybe even more. There's no way to put that Genie back in the bottle. He has to overcome it.
He is lucky that he didn't develop blisters. Sprinters feet are like piano players hands they are very delicate. You would think with different shoes that cost him a few 100ths of a second.
 

mastermulti

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that was fine.
Got to remember at this stage Asafa is in top shape and the world's no. 1 this year.

Christophe was 3 metres down on the fastest man. We mentioned before about if he finishes within 4 metres of a really fast (9.60s low) run he would break 10. Looks alright at this point
 

white lightning

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France also won the 4 x 100 Relay. Lemaitre ran the 2nd leg and looked good. One good thing for him is that his teammate Mbandjock is running very well. He will help to push Lemaitre to another level.




The announcers could not say enough good things about Christophe. I'm sure he is a little depressed but overall he performed very well and he should be proud of himself. With a better start, and if he had his normal spikes, he probably would have been around 10.00 flat! I hope he still can relax and enjoy his 20th birthday tommorow. He deserves it!

We are all proud of you Christophe! Good luck in your next race.


Simone Collio ran a respectable 10.29 out of a horrible lane one for a new seasons best.

Also Hession took 3rd in the 200 and Wariner won the 400 in a world lead time of 44.73!Edited by: white lightning
 

mastermulti

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he RACED really well. That was encouraging.

What happened in the 400. Borlee nearly stopped at 200. It looked like he had to duck under something that then impeded David Neville in the next lane who did stop. How bizaare!

So:
Wariner 400/ 1st
Lemaitre 100/ 2nd
Hession 200/ 3rd
not bad at all!Edited by: mastermulti
 

jacknyc

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This is a very good result for Lemaitre!
It's an excellent time, he beat some top sprinters, and most importantly, he ran in a big race.
Let's remember, Christophe has very little international, big race experience at the senior level. He ran in big races as a junior, but as a senior, he has been running almost exclusively in domestic French meets. And he false started at an international meet last week and at the World Championships last year.
So, in a way, this was his 1st race in the big leagues. I'm sure he was somewhat nervous, but he did well, and now that it's done, he will be better equipped to handle other big races in the future.
The sub-10 will come. But let's be real - nobody runs a PB every time the step on the track. But Lemaitre has shown everyone that he is extremely talented, and he can consistently run under 10.10. He is not a one-off guy. His sub-10 is coming.
 

white lightning

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I agree jacknyc. Great post. People are being a little unfair to the kid. The pressure he is under is immense. According to this article I'm going to paste, his spikes were stolen. Probably a fan who wanted a piece of history but you never know who could have done it. I'm so proud of how he fought his way back to take 2nd against a high quality field! Here is the article.

Behind one untouchable Asafa Powell, author of the best world performance of the year in 9 "82 (wind 0.6 m / s), Christophe Lemaitre finished second in a race found in 10 '09. Contract for the Frenchman completed at the site, even if his race was not very good, after a start completely missed.


Christophe Lemaitre wanted to take advantage of the suction Asafa Powell to finally sign the clock under ten seconds around which it rotates from the beginning of the season.

The Jamaican was present at the meeting in Rome's Olympic stadium, the best performance in the world this year of 100 m in 9 "82 (0.6 m / s).

For cons, the Frenchman has been a fair bit to enjoy the wake of former world record holder. In 10 "09, he certainly has signed a good time but he failed to grasp the opportunity of Rome. Yourself a nice birthday gift on the eve of its 20th anniversary. To please his coach, Pierre Carraz, whose club Aachen celebrated yesterday the 70 spring.

He was robbed of his points in the bag!
Probably influenced by his false start in Marseille on Saturday, Lemaitre remained stuck in the starting blocks. "He forgot to leave. He had already had two lengths behind Powell's five meters of the race, said Carraz. After he returns, but he ran on edge. It has not been brilliant."

Martial Mbandjock (3rd in 10 "09 also) is indeed came to die on the heels of Savoy at the end of the 100m, finishing ninth in Ronald Pognon 10 '32.

However, in a race raised, the densest of his young career on the line right, Aix has fulfilled his contract by finishing second. Beating to the passage of real rivals to win the European title in July. Including the Norwegian Ndure. It is useful to take.

"We're still going to have to improve," said his coach, in perspective of future maturities: European Team Championships June 19 in Bergen, France championships in Valencia from July 8 to 10, meeting at Areva Stade de France on July 16 followed by "Europe" in Barcelona from July 26 to August 1.

To make matters worse, Christophe Lemaitre was robbed of his points in his bag, in Rome. And it took his agent, René Auguin, plays the resourceful to find a replacement pair. This is not an excuse but it had to add to the disorder of a young man still inexperienced.
 

white lightning

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To put things into perspective, think about this kids season so far.

10.09

10.03 new p.b.

20.58 new p.b.

10.09 today.

So that is a new p.b. in the 100 and a new personal best in the 200 to go along with 3 sub 10.10 times. Nowhite sprinterhas ever done anything close to this. All of the greats can not compare to this kid. I'm just urging some patience amongst his fans. I wanted it to happen today too but his performance was still amazing. He has had a season for the ages already and we are only in June. Just imagine what July and August might bring.

He earned alot of respect today from other sprinters and fans around the world. Christophe Lemaitre is a incredible talent and he is going to leave people with their jaws dropped very soon. What a talent. The only hard part for me is waiting between races.

Edited by: white lightning
 

mastermulti

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not only did he earn respect and beat some of his top European rivals, he now looks set to start getting invitations to compete in big meets.
He may actually earn some money because of this performance.

The way I see it now, the top 3 are still in a league of their own. Christophe is now in that bunch of chasers, the guys who may break 10 on occasion but usually go slightly above. There's probably a dozen in the world at this level, anyone of whom can win on their day if the big three are absent.
 

white lightning

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I have watched the race countless times. Even in slow motion breaking down Powell and his form. He has two things that stand out other than his physical strength. The 2 advantages I see are a little bit longer stride. He opens up his legs more. The other thing is that he has one of the highest knee lifts I've ever seen. It really looks like he is gliding or floating down the track. Lemaitre needs to get his knees higher on his strides. If he can do this along with elongating his stride slightly, it will help alot. Other than that, just keep focusing on the drive phase which Powell also has down to an art form.

I'm sure Christophe and his coach will analyze this race hundreds of times to make slight adjustments. I hope they see the tiny attention to details that I have pointed out. It will really help this kid to not only go sub 10, but to go way beyond that. The future is exciting!
 

mastermulti

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yep, but I guess it's Powell's strength that enables him to float like that. He is also relaxing because of his confidence and that's when you can run fast . Will he tighten when Gay and Bolt are there to push him?
He has a fantastic drive phase which Christophe isn't strong enough to match just yet.

Christophe needs matchups with Gay, Bolt and Powell to get a realistic view of how far he has to go. Right now he knows he can run within 3 metres of the world's premier sprinter and this in itself should inspire him.
 

whiteathlete33

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white lightning said:
To put things into perspective, think about this kids season so far.
<div></div>
<div>10.09</div>
<div></div>
<div>10.03 new p.b.</div>
<div></div>
<div>20.58 new p.b.</div>
<div></div>
<div>10.09 today.</div>
<div></div>
<div>So that is a new p.b. in the 100 and a new personal best in the 200 to go along with 3 sub 10.10 times. Nowhite sprinterhas ever done anything close to this. All of the greats can not compare to this kid. I'm just urging some patience amongst his fans. I wanted it to happen today too but his performance was still amazing. He has had a season for the ages already and we are only in June. Just imagine what July and August might bring.</div>
<div></div>
<div>He earned alot of respect today from other sprinters and fans around the world. Christophe Lemaitre is a incredible talent and he is going to leave people with their jaws dropped very soon. What a talent. The only hard part for me is waiting between races. </div>
<div></div>
<div></div>

How about Pickering, Shirvington, and countless other white sprinters. Have none of them had several sub 10.10 times?
 

mastermulti

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Pickering, No!
Shirvington did 2 (10.03,10.07) plus a 10.11 before he turned 20. Only a couple afterwards though.
Lemaitre to my mind has just edged ahead of Shirvo but looks to have more to go.
 

whiteathlete33

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mastermulti said:
Pickering, No!

Shirvington did 2 (10.03,10.07) plus a 10.11 before he turned 20. Only a couple afterwards though.

Lemaitre to my mind has just edged ahead of Shirvo but looks to have more to go.

Don't forget Woronin though many question his 10.00 flat time.
 

mastermulti

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I'd never consider Woronin in the same breath as those two.

10.00 in his hometown with a 2 metre following wind smells a bit dicey especially with nothing else to back it internationally.......next best of 10.15 or so. On an international stage I usually saw him run around 10.40.

I can name lots of white sprinters I'd put ahead of him.
 
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