Christophe Lemaitre in action in the heats of the 200m (© Getty Images)
Usain Bolt, Asafa Powell, and now Christophe Lemaitre. The 21-year-old French top sprinter will be part of a fantastic 100m race at the Compeed Golden Gala, the third leg of the Samsung Diamond League, to be held on 31 May at Rome's Olympic Stadium.
This will be Lemaitre’s first international race of the Olympic season, after his seasonal debut, to be held at the French Club Championships. The Frenchman won’t run many races this year before the Games of London and the European Championships of Helsinki, but he will challenge the fantastic “Jamaican duo”, the same way he did last year, when he was third after Bolt (9.91), Powell (9.93), marking a sensational 10.00.
Then, after that result, Lemaitre had run his 9.92 career best in Albi, his seventh sub-10 career time. Afterwards, he went to the World Championships id Daegu where he finished fourth in the 100m but also earned a prestigious bronze at 200m with a 19.80 national record, and another medal, a silver, with the French 4x100m Relay team.
In his personal trophy case, Lemaitre already has three gold medals (100m, 200m, and 4x100m relay) won at the European Championships ion Barcelona in 2010 and a silver medal at 60m at the 2011 European Indoor Championships in Paris.
Organisers for the IAAF
Samsung Diamond League - 2012 Calendar
Doha, QAT - 11 May
Shanghai, CHN - 19 May
Rome, ITA - 31 May
Eugene, USA - 2 June
Oslo, NOR - 7 June
New York, USA - 9 June
Paris, FRA - 6 July
London, GBR - 13 / 14 July
Monaco, MON - 20 July
Stockholm, SWE - 17 August
Lausanne, SUI - 23 August
Birmingham, GBR - 26 August
Zurich, SUI - 30 August
Brussels, BEL - 7 September