There will be no French athletes in the 100m at the 2024 Games in Paris this summer. If Pablo Mateo becomes French champion this Friday in Angers, neither he nor any other French sprinter will be able to compete in the Olympic Games in the royal distance of athletics for the first time since 1932.
23-year-old Mateo definitely set a personal best (10″ 08″) at Anjou, fresh off the back of a disappointing European Championships in Rome earlier this month (8th in the 100m and disqualified in the 200m). But according to the French Athletics Federation’s (FFA) selection procedures, his results are not enough to qualify for the Olympic Games, which begin in less than a month in Paris.
For the first time in almost a century, no Blue will take to the top track and field distance. “We are a young generation, we can strive to be the best on a global level in one or two years,” responded Jeff Erius on Friday (10″11). “After that, of course, for the Paris Games, not having a French 100m is a shame, but we are doing our best.”
Dylan Vermont (10″15) completed the podium in Angers, and French record holder in this discipline Jimmy Vico took 6th place in 10″25.
Source: Le Parisien
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