Renaud Lavillenie offered this Sunday to the public of Clermont-Ferrand (Puy-de-Dôme) a beautiful meeting. The All star perche by Quartus, which he has been organizing for five years and which was sold out for the first time, has entered another dimension. With guest star: Armand Duplantis, the new nugget of the pole. Winner of the competition, the 20-year-old Swede came close to a third world record in fifteen days by attempting 6, 19 m thanks to an unusual rhythmic show.
The icing on the cake, the meeting director offered himself a jump to 5.94 m, a performance he had not performed since the summer of 2018. Renaud Lavillenie also attempted a bar at 6.01 m , which only Duplantis managed to cross. "On my third try, I was on the verge of whining so I had chills," admits the Frenchman.
And for good reason. Five months before the Tokyo Olympics, here he is repositioning himself on the world stage, after several months of hardships and above all a failure in qualifying for the Doha Worlds. “I was in a complicated period, I was staying on rotten performances, he admits. Getting to my competition having done 5, 40m and zero competitions before, it was not ideal. Deep down, I set myself 5.94 m as my maximum goal, I knew I had the means. Upon warming up, I knew I was back. "
"Disagree between my head and my physical abilities"
If he has regained height, the Clermontois can boast of having crossed everything on the first try: "With a competition like that this summer in Tokyo, I can be on the podium, that's a goal. I am relieved, it's been a year and a half that I had not been at this height, I disagreed between my head and my physical capacities, I had to accept to be patient. The result is there, 5.94 m, it sets the record straight! Those who buried me will have to review their project! "
The Mondo Duplantis effect has also gone through this. "It was laughing, but when I saw his ease, his level, I had only one thing in mind: avoid taking me 30 cm in sight! It was our first competition of the season together. I get away with 7 cm ”, continues Lavillenie.
From now on, the pole vaulter plans to follow: “The French Championships next weekend where I plan to succeed in my 150th competition over 5.80 m and then the Tokyo Games. I'm going to relax a bit and stay on surgical work. If I level off at 5.70 m in May, it won't matter, I no longer need to do 50 contests to be good. I understood this this winter. "
