Damien Joly, 30, 4th at the last 1500m Euro in Budapest, clocked 14.50.86, behind Italian Gregorio Paltrinieri (14.39.79) and Ukrainian European champion Mykhaylo Romanchuk (14.36.10) , which won its third continental title over the distance after Glasgow in 2018 and Budapest in 2021.
The pupil of Philippe Lucas, who started cautiously, rose to 3rd place 800 meters from the finish and controlled alone the return of the Italian Domenico Acerenza (14.56.15) to fail 2 seconds from his French record (14.48.90), made at the Rio Games in 2016.
Read alsoLéon Marchand, the new star of French swimming
He erased the disappointment born of his 6th place in the 800m obtained on Saturday, more than 5 seconds from the podium.
Joly had set the second time in the heats in 15.01.44 behind Romanchuk.
Joly brings the 8th medal to the French delegation, the first of the evening before the final of the women's 100m backstroke with Emma Terebo and Pauline Mahieu and the mixed 4x200m freestyle relay, where the Blues will be among the favorite nations.