Aiming for a presence in Paris from Seville.
This was the objective of the French marathon runners in Andalusia this Sunday morning.
And the French did not do things by half measures.
A few minutes after Morhad Amdouni, who broke his own French record for the distance on Sunday in 2h03'36'', Méline Rollin also set her French record for women.
And what a record!
The 25-year-old athlete finished eighth among the women in 2h24′12′', or 10 seconds better than the previous mark, that of Christelle Daunay achieved in 2010. Passed very close to the Olympic minimums in the fall on the side of 'Amsterdam (2h26′55′'), Méline Rollin takes, this time, a big option for the Olympic selection.
“I don’t set limits for myself”
The marathon runner came to Seville to do better than Manon Trapp who held the third qualifying time in 2h25'45'', Mekdes Woldu and Mélody Julien, having already been preselected since January 30.
The rest of the French contingent will therefore have to find a solution to improve this new record before April 30, the selection deadline.
🚨🚨 FRANCE marathon record for Méline Rollin (🇫🇷) in 2️⃣H2️⃣4️⃣'1️⃣2️⃣ at the Seville marathon just now!
🙆♂️ It's an average of 3:25/km and she explodes her record by + 2 minutes 🔥🔥 MONSTROUS!
Heading to the Paris Olympic Games for now ✊ pic.twitter.com/ybtKGd1ZvH
— RUN'IX (@RUN_IX) February 18, 2024
For Méline Rollin, this record is not really a surprise.
She had made it one of her goals.
“I don’t set limits for myself.
If I progress with each marathon, why not go for this French record,” she explained to Running Attitude last October.
For her first marathon in December 2022 in Valencia, she had already achieved the best start in history over the distance for a French woman in 2h30′27′'.
Two years later, the woman who works as a Data Analyst at Decathlon improved her mark by almost 6 minutes.
At only 25 years old...