Meeting de Paris 2018 Diary: In the name of SPEED

Pascal Martinot-Lagarde

Karston Warholm vs Abderrahman Samba poster

The Meeting De Paris 2018 is the seventh of the Diamond League meetings this season. Held in Charlety Stadium, the meet is well organized, and features many of the stars of French athletics. A great series of pressers is held at the Paris meeting each year, that is why it is one of my favorite events. I also like walking around Paris late at night, and observing people. Paris, in June and July, is a wonderful place to visit. The Meeting de Paris is trying to capture the imagination of the next generation of French fans and star athletes.

MEETING de PARIS 2018
In the name of SPEED

Good old habits die hard. True to form, on Saturday 30 June 2018 at the Charléty Stadium, the MEETING de PARIS will offer a programme in which the sprint event promises to be explosive. The organisers of the French leg of the IAAF Diamond League are guaranteed the presence on the track of the biggest names in today’s athletics. The clash of safe bets and rising stars is not be missed.

Among the male athletes, the 100m is shaping up to be a Franco-American face-off, where the time on the stopwatch is likely to be memorable for a long time to come. Running for America, Christian Coleman, 22, world indoor champion back in the winter over 60m, and world record holder over the distance (6”34). World No.2 in London last year, he has a personal best of 9”82. He’ll be competing in Paris for the first time. Up against him in the French corner, Jimmy Vicaut, who is very familiar with the MEETING de PARIS. In 2015, he made the most of the presence of Asafa Powell and the night’s optimal conditions to equal the European record in the 100m (9”86). Jimmy Vicaut has already packed quite a punch this season, securing a time of 10”00 at the Interclubs, on Sunday 20 May in Grenoble, on his return to the racetrack. He ranks 3rd in the world this season. Promising…

There is the same generational clash in the 200m, this time with a unique trial of strength between Christophe Lemaitre and Clarence Munyai. To put it plainly, the most iconic French sprinter, Olympic and World medallist against the new South African attraction over the distance. The French 200m record holder since the Worlds in Daegu in 2011 (19”80), Christophe Lemaitre has not missed a single opportunity to compete at the MEETING de PARIS. On Saturday 30 June, the French meeting will give him the chance to battle it out with the discipline’s latest discovery. At 20 years of age, Clarence Munyai won acclaim on 16 March 2017 by winning his semi-final round in the South African championships in 19”69. One hundredth of a second off the African record held by Frankie Fredericks since the Atlanta Games in 1996. Clarence Munyai currently ranks number one in the world this season over 200m.

Among the female contingent, the MEETING de PARIS 2018 will offer the Charléty crowds the World No. 1 this season. At 29 years of age, Marie-Josée Ta Lou is currently enjoying the best period of her career so far. Last year, she scooped two silver medals at the Worlds in London, in the 100 and 200m. In Doha, on 4 May 2018, she put pedal to the metal in her IAAF Diamond League campaign: 10”85 in the 100m, a new personal best, and best time in the world. From the Cote d’Ivoire, she is making no secret of the fact that she wants to make the most of the MEETING de PARIS to boost her speed and secure a new reference time in the 200m. Marie-Josée Ta Lou admits to a certain fondness for the French capital. Back in March, she won the 60m in the Indoor MEETING de PARIS at the AccorHotels Arena.

MEETING de PARIS record in the short sprint:

100m:
Usain Bolt (JAM) in 9”79 in 2009
Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (JAM) in 10”74 in 2015

200m:
Usain Bolt (JAM) in 19”73 in 2013
Merlene Ottey (JAM) in 21”97 in 1990

The world champions signed up for the MEETING de PARIS:

800m: Pierre-Ambroise Bosse and Caster Semenya
100m: Christian Coleman (60m in the winter)
High jump: Mariya Lasitskene and Nafissatou Thiam (heptathlon)
Pole vault: Renaud Lavillenie
Triathlon: Kevin Mayer in the 110m hurdles, long jump and shot put