Christophe Lemaitre has not been in the spotlight for several years, but when he walks in the stands of the French championships in Angers, he is the one to whom all eyes turn and who takes the most selfies with the fans.
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The 34-year-old sprinter has one of the finest CVs in French athletics: two bronze medals at the Olympic Games (bronze in 2012 in the 4x100m and in 2016 in the 200m), two world medals (in 2011 in Daegu in the 4x100m and 200m), four European titles (eight medals in total)… But as is often the case in his career, it was an injury that hastened the end of his adventure at the top level.
Can you tell us about the reasons for this end of career?
It was something thoughtful, logical. My goal was to try and do everything to qualify for the Paris Olympics. Unfortunately, a major calf injury appeared in May. She stopped me a lot and it took away any chance of qualifying. So I thought about it and told myself it was time to stop. Despite all the work done for two years, to really try to be in shape, to try to have the physique necessary to go fast, but also not to get injured, it didn’t work unfortunately. I think it’s a sign that the body is not arriving…
