Championnats d’Europe d’athlétisme – Le relais 4×100 m hommes en argent, Yann Schrub en bronze sur le 10 000m

A silver medal to finish. The French men’s 4×100 m relay, concluded by Jimmy Vicaut, obtained 2nd place and silver at the European Athletics Championships on Sunday in Munich, in total the ninth medal of the competition for the Blues.

With a quartet made up of Méba-Mickaël Zeze, Pablo Mateo, Ryan Zeze and Vicaut, the French relay completed its lap in 37″94, behind Great Britain (37″67) and ahead of Poland (38″15 ).

For their part, the girls of the 4×100 m relay – Floriane Gnafoua, Gémima Joseph, Hélène Parisot, Mallory Leconte – could not finish their final after a handover outside the zone. Everything quickly stopped since the incident took place during the first handover between Gnafoua and Joseph. Great Britain suffered the same fate, at the same time, during the race and let Germany fly away for gold and the coronation in the nations classification (7 titles).

For France, the results are rather satisfactory with a total of 9 medals (4 in silver and 5 in bronze). A nice rebound after the disaster of the Worlds of Eugene, where only Kévin Mayer had brought back something (gold in decathlon). But, big downside, there was no title for the Blues during these Europe.

The nice surprise Schrub on the 10,000m

Yann Schrub, the nice surprise. The 26-year-old athlete took a very nice bronze medal in the 10,000 meters. While his teammate Jimmy Gressier was expected in the fight for the gold medal, it was he who finished the race better to get his first medal at the European outdoor championships. A first medal in his first major championship.

“I think it will be a rebound for my career“, welcomed the native of Thionville, licensed at ASSA in Sarreguemines. He is obviously aiming for the Paris 2024 Olympics.

For his part, Gressier got stuck during the last two laps, the fault of his start to the race in turbo mode. At the head of the group of favorites, he could not make the connection with the Norwegian Zerei Kbrom Mezngi, who had taken to their heels earlier. He finally cracked on the home stretch, against the Italian Yemaneberhan Crippa.

“It is not a satisfaction because it is the chocolate medal. The chocolate, I will have it tomorrow at the supermarket. But Yann Schrub’s bronze medal is the reward for teamwork. He’s in medical school, he works a lot and doesn’t train much, so it shows everyone that anything is possible.“, greeted Gressier on France Télévisions.

Robert 5th in the 800m

Small disappointment for Benjamin Robert. The only French present in the final of the 800 meters, the Toulousain failed to take a medal in the final. He finished in 5th place with a time of 1’45″42, far from his best mark signed at Charléty last June (1’43″75).

Despite a nice last straight line, Robert paid dearly for his placement at the back during the second 400m. He had attacked the last corner in 7th position. “I was hoping for a medal, but I’m still happy with this 5th place. I ran out of legs“, analyzed the Habs with France Télévisions.

It was the Spaniard Mariano Garcia who was crowned European champion. Briton Jake Wightman took silver. Irishman Mark English took bronze.

Samba-Mayela 7th in the 100m hurdles

Cyréna Samba-Mayela only took 7th place in the 100m hurdles final. Author of a very perfectible race against hurdles, she finished this event with a time of 13.05. The Polish Pia Skrzyszowska was crowned European champion.