Renaud Lavillenie returned to the top level after having crossed the 6m bar twice this season, was forced this Friday evening to withdraw from the European Championships because of a "severe pain in the calf".
“During my last training session, I felt a sharp pain in my right calf during a classic exercise,” says the Clermontois.
In the process, I spent time with the physiotherapist and I gave myself the time of the day to see the evolution.
But tonight, the evolution is not significant enough and I do not want to aggravate the injury to risk compromising the Olympics this summer.
"
The pole vaulter arrived in Torun, Poland on Tuesday with the entire French delegation and was due to take part in the pole vault qualifications on Saturday.
Quadruple European indoor champion, he was counting on adding a new medal to his record, especially since he had had his best winter season for four years.
At the end of January in Tourcoing, he had returned to the legendary 6 m bar, crossing 6.02 m.
He did even better last weekend, during the All Star pole vault, this time achieving 6.06 m, a height that only he and two other pole vaulter (Sergei Bubka and Armand "Mondo" Duplantis) managed to overcome in the history of the world pole.
At 34, Lavillenie returned to his best level and even tackled, unsuccessfully, the world record held by the Swedish Mondo Duplantis (6, 18 m).
The Frenchman partly explains his resurrection by the fact that he has been able, in recent months due in particular to the confinement of March 2020, to rest and treat his many physical problems.
Here he is again touched, this time in the calf.
As a precaution, Lavillenie therefore prefers to ignore the European meeting so as not to jeopardize his chances of medals this summer in Tokyo.
