- Christophe Lemaitre
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Christophe Lemaitre 
Christophe Lemaitre in 2010 European ChampsPersonal information Nationality France Born 11 June 1990
Annecy, FranceHeight 1.89 m (6 ft 2 1⁄2 in) Weight 74 kg (160 lb) Sport Sport Running Event(s) 100 metres, 200 metres Club Athlétique Sport Aixois Achievements and titles Personal best(s) 100 m: 9.92 s (Albi 2011)
200 m: 19.80 s (Daegu 2011)Medal recordMen's athletics Competitor for 
FranceWorld Championships Bronze 2011 Daegu 200 m Silver 2011 Daegu 4×100 m relay European Championships Gold 2010 Barcelona 100 m Gold 2010 Barcelona 200 m Gold 2010 Barcelona 4×100 m relay European Indoor Championships Bronze 2011 Paris 60 m World Junior Championships Gold 2008 Bydgoszcz 200 m European Junior Championships Gold 2009 Novi Sad 100 m Competitor for 
EuropeContinental Cup Gold 2010 Split 100 m Christophe Lemaitre[1] (French pronunciation: [kʁistɔf ləmɛtʁ]; born 11 June 1990 in Annecy, France) is a French sprinter, who specialises in the 100 and 200 metres. He is the French 100 m and 200 m record holder with a time of 9.92 seconds and 19.80 seconds as well as being the first caucasian to break the 10-second barrier in an officially timed event.[2]
At the age of 20, he won the 100 m, 200 m and the 4×100 m relay titles at the 2010 European Championships, the first sprinter ever to do this treble, making him the fastest man in Europe.[3][4]
Contents
Career
Growing up
Lemaitre grew up in the town of Culoz, where he practiced handball, rugby and football, before his speed was discovered. In 2005 at the age of 15, during national sprinting events, Lemaitre ended up with the fastest 50 metres in the country.[5]
2008–2009
Lemaitre after winning his medals in Barcelona
At the 2008 World Junior Championships in Athletics, Lemaitre won the 200 m title with a time of 20.83 seconds.[6]
At the 2009 European Athletics Junior Championships, Lemaitre won gold in the 100 m and set a new European junior record with a time of 10.04 seconds.[7] He won the men's European Athletics Rising Star of the Year Award for his achievements in 2009.[8]
2010
At the start of the 2010 outdoor season, he opened with a run of 10.09 seconds in Aix-les-Bains before winning in 10.24 into a headwind of −2.2 m/s in Vénissieux. He ran at the French Club National Championships in Franconville in May 2010 and recorded a new 100 m personal best of 10.03 seconds, although he said he was disappointed to have missed Ronald Pognon's French record of 9.99 seconds.[9] He aimed once more at the record at the 2010 European Team Championships and, although he again missed his target, he finished as runner-up against Dwain Chambers with a personal best of 10.02 seconds.[10]
100 m final at the 2010 European Athletics Championships in Barcelona.On July 9, 2010, Lemaitre became the third fastest person of non-West African by descent and the first Caucasian to run 100 metres in under 10 seconds with a 9.98. Afterwards he said, "This was my goal to break it of course. One has to run under 10 seconds in order to be part of the world's best. I will be recognised as the first white man to run it, but today is mainly historical for myself!...It's not about color, it's about hard work."[11][12][13] One day later, Lemaitre equalled the national record in the 200 m with a time of 20.16 seconds.[14]
At the 2010 European Athletics Championships, he won gold in the 100 m with a time of 10.11 s.[15] The next day after comfortably progressing through the heats and semi-finals of the 200 m, Lemaitre became the double European champion by storming to victory in the 200 m final in a time of 20.37 s, beating Great Britain's Christian Malcolm by 0.01 (Malcolm clocked a season's best 20.38 s).[16] Lemaitre then combined with Jimmy Vicaut, Pierre-Alexis Pessonneaux, and Martial Mbandjock in the 4 x 100 m relay to finish first ahead of Italy and Germany in a time of 38.11 s.[17] At the IAAF world challenge meet in Reiti, Italy on the 29th of August Lemaitre competed in the 100 m, equalling his personal best in his heat with a 9.98, and improving upon it in the final with a run of 9.97 seconds with a reaction of 0.199.[18]
2011
Lemaitre at the 2011 World championships Athletics in Daegu.During the 2011 European Athletics Indoor Championships Christophe Lemaitre was fastest during the early heats of the 60m sprint event. He also had the fastest time in the semi-final, but he finished in third place taking a bronze during the final.[19][20]
On June 7, at the first Meet of the Pro Athlé Tour in Montreuil, he broke his own national record with a time of 9.96.[21]
On June 18, he went on to again lower his National record, clocking a time of 9.95 at the European Team Championships in Stockholm, Sweden.[22]
On June 30, he matched his national record with a time of 9.95 in Lausanne.
On July 29, he again lowered the French national record in Albi with a time of 9.92 s with a wind aid of 2.0 m/s. In this race he became the second fastest sprinter of non-west African descent (after Frankie Fredericks), by surpassing the Patrick Johnson personal best time of 9.93.
On 30 July, he broke another French record at the 200 meters, but it did not count as the wind was 2.3 m/s, which is 0.3 m/s over the limit.
During the 2011 World Championships in Athletics in Daegu, Lemaitre reached the finals of the 100m sprint event, finishing fourth.[23]
On September 3, he won the bronze medal of the 200m final, beating his personal record with a time of 19.80 with a wind aid of 0.8 m/s, as well as pulverizing the previous French national record he shared with Gilles Quénéhervé, 20.16s, by 0.36 seconds. .[24] In the race he became the second fastest European 200m sprinter in history after Pietro Mennea.
On September 4, Lemaitre alongside Jimmy Vicaut, Teddy Tinmar and Yannick Lesourd, ran a season best of 38.20s, finishing second behind a world record-breaking Jamaica and thus taking the silver medal.[25]
Recognition
Christophe Lemaitre was the winner of the 2010 men's European Athlete of the Year Award.[26] He has also been named the 2010 French Sportsman of the Year by sports daily L'Equipe.[27] After he broke the ten seconds mark, Paris sports newspaper L'Équipe put him on the front page, even though the Tour de France was taking place. During his European champions treble winning year, Christophe Lemaitre ran faster than the former world record-holder Asafa Powell and the former double world champion Tyson Gay did at his age. He took second place in the 2011 European athlete of the year awards.[28]
Personal bests
Event Time Wind Venue Date Ref 60 m 6.55 Aubière13 February 2010 100 m 9.92 NR +2.0 m/s Albi29 July 2011 [29] 200 m 19.80 NR +0.8 m/s 
Daegu3 September 2011 Key: NR = National record
References
- ^ "Lemaitre, enfant du paradis" (in (French)). Le Républicain Lorrain. http://www.republicain-lorrain.fr/fr/permalien/article.html?iurweb=1601397. Retrieved 2010-07-10. "[...] Lemaitre sans accent circonflexe [...]"
- ^ Vazel, Pierre Jean (2010-07-09). "Lemaitre – 9.98sec". IAAF. http://www.iaaf.org/news/kind=100/newsid=57332.html. Retrieved 2010-07-10.
- ^ Your name: (2010-07-29). "Lemaitre is fastest man in Europe – Emirates24|7". Emirates247.com. http://www.emirates247.com/sports/other/lemaitre-is-fastest-man-in-europe-2010-07-29-1.272438. Retrieved 2010-12-22.
- ^ Christophe Lemaitre profile Retrieved 31 January 2011
- ^ « Un météore venu de la lune », leprogres.fr, mis en ligne le 10 juillet 2010
- ^ "2008 World Junior Championships in Athletics −200 Metres Hurdles – M FinaL". IAAF. http://www.iaaf.org/wjc08/results/eventcode=3739/racedate=07-11-2008/sex=M/discCode=200/combCode=hash/roundCode=f/results.html#detM_200_hash_f. Retrieved 2010-07-10.
- ^ "2009 European Athletics Junior Championships −200 Metres Hurdles – M FinaL". European Athletics. http://www.sportresult.com/sports/la/framework/eaa2.asp?event_id=10000100000095&comp_id=47254&module=competition&show=RL&lang=en#round0010040. Retrieved 2010-07-10.
- ^ European Athletics Rising Star Lemaitre now looking at new challenges . European Athletics (2009-09-30). Retrieved on 2009-10-02.
- ^ Vazel, Pierre-Jean (2010-05-25). World leading 17.63 for Tamgho – 10.03PB for Lemaitre – French Club Champs report. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-06-14.
- ^ Minshull, Phil (2010-06-20). Chambers flies to 9.99, Russia hold pole position – European Team Champs, Day 1. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-06-21.
- ^ "Lemaitre – 9.98sec". IAAF. http://www.iaaf.org/news/kind=100/newsid=57332.html. Retrieved 2010-07-14.
- ^ Boucey, Bertrand (2010-07-09). "Lemaitre first white man to run 100m in under 10 seconds". Reuters. http://ca.reuters.com/article/sportsNews/idCATRE6684KL20100709. Retrieved 2010-07-10.
- ^ "French sprinter breaks 10-second barrier in 100m dash". France 24. 2010-07-09. http://www.france24.com/en/20100709-valence-france-christophe-lemaitre-100-metre-dash-under-ten-seconds. Retrieved 2010-07-10.
- ^ "Lemaitre equals 20.16 national 200m record, Lavillenie vaults world-leading 5.94m as French championships conclude". IAAF. 2010-07-11. http://www.iaaf.org/news/kind=100/newsid=57343.html. Retrieved 2010-07-11.
- ^ "Christophe Lemaitre wins 100m at European Championships". The Guardian. 2010-07-28. http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2010/jul/28/chambers-lemaitre-european-championships-100m. Retrieved 2010-07-28.
- ^ "Christian Malcolm edged out for 200m gold by Christophe Lemaitre". The Guardian. 2010-07-30. http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2010/jul/30/european-athletics-championship-christian-malcolm. Retrieved 2010-08-03.
- ^ "France's Lemaitre captures third gold". The Japan Times. 2010-08-03. http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/sp20100803t1.html. Retrieved 2010-08-03.
- ^ Sampaolo, Diego (2010-08-29). Rudisha lowers 800m World record again, 1:41.01; Carter dashes 9.78sec in Rieti – IAAF World Challenge. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-08-30.
- ^ Round 1 Results
- ^ Semifinal Results
- ^ "Lemaitre clocks 9.96 for new French 100m record". www.trackalerts.com. 2011-06-07. http://trackalerts.com/news/quick-news/3819-global-news/4686-lemaitre-clocks-996-for-new-french-100m-record.html. Retrieved 2011-06-08.
- ^ "Lemaitre clocks 9.95 at SPAR European Team Championships, fastest European time since 2004". EAA. 18 June 2011. http://www.european-athletics.org/3rd-spar-european-athletics-team-championships/flash-lemaitre-995-fastest-european-time-since-2004.html. Retrieved 18 June 2011.
- ^ "Blake en or, Lemaitre se rate – AthlĂŠ – ChM (H) – L'EQUIPE.FR". Lequipe.fr. 2011-08-28. http://www.lequipe.fr/Athletisme/breves2011/20110828_135001_blake-en-or-lemaitre-se-rate.html. Retrieved 2011-09-05.
- ^ "Mondiaux Daegu – Lemaitre l'a fait !". Fr.sports.yahoo.com. http://fr.sports.yahoo.com/03092011/70/mondiaux-daegu-lemaitre-l-a-fait.html. Retrieved 2011-09-05.
- ^ "RM pour la JamaĂŻque, Bleus en argent – AthlĂŠ – ChM – L'EQUIPE.FR". Lequipe.fr. http://www.lequipe.fr/Athletisme/breves2011/20110904_140314_rm-pour-la-jamaique-bleus-en-argent.html. Retrieved 2011-09-05.
- ^ Frenchman Lemaitre voted 2010 European Athlete of the Year Retrieved 31 January 2011
- ^ Sprinter Lemaitre named 'French Sportsman of the Year' Retrieved 31 January 2011
- ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/athletics/15181590.stm
- ^ "Lemaitre beats his own French 100m record". www.tipnews.info. 29 July 2011. http://www.tipnews.info/sports/NjAzODY=/2011/07/29/lemaitre_beats_his_own_french_100m_record. Retrieved 29 July 2011.
External links
- IAAF profile for Christophe Lemaitre
- French Athletics Federation profile of Christophe Lemaitre (French)
European Athlete of the Year (men) Linford Christie (1993) · Colin Jackson (1994) · Jonathan Edwards (1995) · Jan Železný (1996) · Wilson Kipketer (1997) · Jonathan Edwards (1998) · Tomáš Dvořák (1999) · Jan Železný (2000) · André Bucher (2001) · Dwain Chambers (2002) · Christian Olsson (2003) · Christian Olsson (2004) · Virgilijus Alekna (2005) · Francis Obikwelu (2006) · Tero Pitkämäki (2007) · Andreas Thorkildsen (2008) · Phillips Idowu (2009) · Christophe Lemaitre (2010) · Mo Farah (2011)
European Champions in Men's 100 m 1934: Chris Berger (NED) • 1938: Tinus Osendarp (NED) • 1946: John Archer (GBR) • 1950: Étienne Bally (FRA) • 1954: Heinz Fütterer (FRG) • 1958: Armin Hary (FRG) • 1962: Claude Piquemal (FRA) • 1966: Wiesław Maniak (POL) • 1969: Valeriy Borzov (RUS) • 1971: Valeriy Borzov (RUS) • 1974: Valeriy Borzov (RUS) • 1978: Pietro Mennea (ITA) • 1982: Frank Emmelmann (GDR) • 1986: Linford Christie (GBR) • 1990: Linford Christie (GBR) • 1994: Linford Christie (GBR) • 1998: Darren Campbell (GBR) • 2002: Francis Obikwelu (POR) • 2006: Francis Obikwelu (POR) • 2010: Christophe Lemaitre (FRA)
European Champions in Men's 200 m 1934: Chris Berger (NED) • 1938: Tinus Osendarp (NED) • 1946: Nikolay Karakulov (URS) • 1950: Brian Shenton (GBR) • 1954: Heinz Fütterer (FRG) • 1958: Manfred Germar (FRG) • 1962: Owe Jonsson (SWE) • 1966: Roger Bambuck (FRA) • 1969: Philippe Clerc (SUI) • 1971: Valeriy Borzov (URS) • 1974: Pietro Mennea (ITA) • 1978: Pietro Mennea (ITA) • 1982: Olaf Prenzler (GDR) • 1986: Vladimir Krylov (URS) • 1990: John Regis (GBR) • 1994: Geir Moen (NOR) • 1998: Douglas Walker (GBR) • 2002: Konstantinos Kenteris (GRE) • 2006: Francis Obikwelu (POR) • 2010: Christophe Lemaitre (FRA)
European Champions in Men's 4 x 100 m relay 1934: Germany (Schein, Gillmeister, Hornberger, Borchmeyer) • 1938: Germany (Kersch, Hornberger, Neckermann, Scheuring) • 1946: Sweden (Danielsson, Nilsson, Laessker, Håkansson) • 1950: Soviet Union (Sukharev, Kalyayev, Sanadze, Karakulov) • 1954: Hungary (Zarándi, Varasdi, Csányi, Goldoványi) • 1958: West Germany (Mahlendorf, Hary, Fütterer, Germar) • 1962: West Germany (Ulonska, Gamper, Bender, Germar) • 1966: France (Berger, Delecour, Piquemal, Bambuck) • 1969: France (Sarteur, Bourbeillon, Fenouil, St.-Gilles) • 1971: Czechoslovakia (Kříž, Demeč, Kynos, Bohman) • 1974: France (Sainte-Rose, Arame, Cherrier, Chauvelot) • 1978: Poland (Nowosz, Licznerski, Dunecki, Woronin) • 1982: Soviet Union (Sokolov, Aksinin, Prokofyev, Sidorov) • 1986: Soviet Union (Yevgenyev, Yuschmanov, Muravyov, Bryzhin) • 1990: France (Morinière, Sangouma, Trouabal, Marie-Rose) • 1994: France (Lomba, Perrot, Trouabal, Sangouma) • 1998: Great Britain (Condon, Campbell, Walker, Golding) • 2002: Ukraine (Vasyukov, Rurak, Dovhal, Kaydash) • 2006: Great Britain (Chambers, Campbell, Devonish, Lewis-Francis) • 2010: France (Vicaut, Lemaitre, Pessonneaux, Mbandjock)
IAAF World / Continental Cup Champions in Men's 100 m 1977: Steve Williams (USA) • 1979 : James Sanford (USA) • 1981: Allan Wells (GBR) • 1985: Ben Johnson (CAN) • 1989 – 1994: Linford Christie (GBR) • 1998: Obadele Thompson (BAR) • 2002: Uchenna Emedolu (NGR) • 2006: Tyson Gay (USA) • 2010: Christophe Lemaitre (FRA)
Categories:- 1990 births
- Living people
- Sprinters
- French sprinters
- People from Annecy
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