The Pierre-Quinon stadium will be the scene of two exciting 800m races on Saturday afternoon, with Agathe Guillemot and Yanis Meziane at the start. The 60m, with the return from injury of hurdler Just Kwaou-Mathey and Orlann Olière, will also be worth a look.
Follow the Nantes Premium Meeting for free live on Athlé TV on Saturday January 25 from 12 p.m., and from 2 p.m. (main program on L’Equipe live). Commentaries will be provided by Philippe Chaput and Heloïse Kane.
With Agathe Guillemotthere is always a show. Capable of taking responsibility in meetings, the half-distance runner from Haute Bretagne Athlétisme will try to continue her momentum after an exceptional 2024 season, marked in particular by her French record in the 1500 m (3’56”69) and her medal European bronze. It is on 800 m that we will find it this Saturday. A distance where she also has arguments to put forward, as evidenced by her 2’02”09 alone when she returned to Rennes on January 5. Suffice it to say that the meeting record, held by Diana Mezulianikova in 2’04”18, is hanging by a thread, and that the two-minute barrier might not be very far away at the finish. To hold on to your stride, you can count on your training and club friend in particular. Clara Libermanor even Bérénice Cleyet-Merle (A. Villeneuve La Garenne), who is also a miler.
High-flying duel between Meziane and Anselmini
On the four laps of the men’s track, duel announced between Yanis Meziane (Athlé 91) and Paul Anselmini (Entente Franconville Cesame Val d’Oise), two of the immense talents of a discipline that is booming in France. The first named, obviously disappointed at not having been able to live his Olympic dream, was able to remobilize himself and will inevitably attack this 800 m with great desire, after having signed a promising 47”07 over 400 m on January 4 in Aubière. To achieve the minimums for the Europeans in Apeldoorn (1’46”40) or even for the Worlds in Nanking (1’45”00), the member of Athlé 91, who will celebrate his 23rd birthday the day after the meeting, will be able to rely on a major adversary in the person of Paul Anselmini.
The 400 m also look interesting, with the men Yann Spillman (Entente Sud Lyonnais) and Téo Andant (AS Monaco) who will want to get closer to the 46” mark, against the Portuguese João Coelho (45”84) and American Brian Faust (45”47), as well as, among women, Camille Séri (Nice Côte d’Azur Athletics) and Marjorie Veyssière (Clermont Auvergne Athlétisme) with the 52” barrier in mind, it is from the side of the straight that several of the peak performances of the Nantes meeting could well come.
The 4x100m sprinters in strength
-On the flat, with the presence of several members of the women’s 4x100m collective in the starting blocks, such as Orlann Olière (CA Montreuil 93), timed in 7”18 last Sunday in Luxembourg, Mallory Leconte (Saint-Denis Emotion) et Sarah Richard Mingas (EFCVO). Without forgetting, on the men’s side, the highly anticipated return to the competition of Just Kwaou-Mathey (Evreux AC). The world bronze medalist in the 60m hurdles, before returning to the obstacles, will take on the 60m, a distance he covered in 6”72 in 2023. Aymeric Priam (CA Montreuil 93) and Allan Lagui (EA Cergy-Pontoise) will also have their say, with respective records in 6”64 and 6”65.
Manga finds Lecoeur and Cinna
On the hurdle side, there will also be some good people. With, among the men, a great fight expected between the experienced Aurel Manga (US Créteil), whose record dates back to 2017 in 7”53, and the hurdlers who are rising Romain Lecoeur (Sottevillais Stadium 76), PB in 7”66, and Erwann Cinna (Athlé 91), whose reference time is three hundredths higher. In the ladies’ race, the local Laura Valette (8”06), who now wears the colors of CA Montreuil 93, will be in her garden, but will have to deal, among others, with her compatriot Sacha Alessandrini (Nice Côte d’Azur A.) and the Finn Saara Keskitalo (8’’04).
Finally, the most attractive competition, on paper, is that of the men’s length with another regional of the stage, Yann Randrianasolo (Nantes Métropole A.), as well as Sainda flour et Raihau Maiauall three of which have the potential to fall back to around eight meters. But the Ukrainian Vladyslav Mazurwho has a record of 8.14 m, could well make everyone agree.
The editorial staff
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