Renaud Lavillenie, 34, who had not flown beyond 6 meters for almost five years, signed the best world performance of the year with a jump to 6.02 m, in Tourcoing.
Better than the 6.01 m of "Mondo" Duplantis.
We felt really happy after this successful jump from 6.02 m on the first try ...
RENAUD LAVILLENIE.
If we go back a few years, this is something we had trouble imagining.
I had incredible years between 2013 and 2016. After that, I struggled.
Coming back to such a level is magic, even if I did everything for it.
I have resolved my physical problems, I have been training very well for 6 months.
Everything started in Bordeaux (5.92 m, January 16).
This ability to be consistent, to maintain a level of performance, I had not lost.
I just didn't have the physical ability to do it anymore.
6m02 💪🏼
Nothing to add 👊🏼
Thank you @Perche_en_or
💙 air6team 🥰 @PUMA @PUMARunning @BRMChrono @Michelin 💙 pic.twitter.com/E4HrvRzlGt
- Renaud LAVILLENIE (@airlavillenie) January 31, 2021
This 20th jump of your career at 6 meters comes at a special time.
So the health constraints that shake up the competitions do not disturb you?
You have to be clear about the conditions.
Yes, it was complicated in the spring of 2020 but, since then, top athletes can train, even if for some sports it is a little more difficult.
Yes, the protocols are cumbersome, but I have the chance to go to the stadium, to compete.
And, paradoxically, the first confinement was beneficial to me.
It allowed me to find a physical balance.
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Your last 6-meter jump was in March 2016. Did you end up forgetting this mythical height?
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No, I never gave up because there had been a few signs, like in 2018, where 3 times I did not go far.
Even if the years go by, there was no question of telling me it's good if I'm 5.80 m.
I knew I had potential, and a competitor has to have ambition.
Deep inside, I knew I could do 6 meters again.
A performance like this frees a man.
What prospects does this leap open for you?
My ambition was to do 6 meters during the season, I do it from my 3rd competition, it opens up prospects!
I can nurture real ambitions for the European Indoor Championships
(Editor's note: March 5-7 in Torun, Poland)
, not just getting on the podium but winning the gold medal.
There is one month left, the performances may change, Mondo
(Editor's note: Duplantis)
will perhaps be at 6.15 m and I still at 6.02 m, in which case I will be lucid.
At least I know I'm competitive.
In mid-January, Teddy Riner, with 26 kg less, won the Doha tournament, a year after his defeat in Paris.
You are back at 6 m.
The postponement of the Tokyo Olympics has apparently been beneficial to the "old" ...
Not necessarily for the elderly, but for those who were in difficulty a year ago.
Teddy and I were Olympic champions, this kind of challenge doesn't scare us.
When it comes to putting everything back in place to re-mobilize, we respond present.
We know that the fights and the competitions will be difficult but, even if the years go by, the level of performance and the motivation are still there.
