This Friday, from 7:30 p.m., the Kindarena in Rouen (Seine-Maritime) welcomes the cream of the world’s pole vaulters, both men and women, for the stage of the Pole Elite Tour. A habit since 2013. And if this year the king of the discipline and world record holder (6.26 m), the Swede Armand “Mondo” Duplantis, will not be present, the silver and bronze medalists of the Olympic Games of Paris, the American Sam Kendricks and the Greek Emmanouil Karalis will be there. Just like the Frenchman Thibaut Collet who has just made his return to Dévoluy (Hautes-Alpes) where he crossed a bar at 5.70 m.
“I’m happy to go to Rouen…” assures the young 25-year-old athlete who will continue the following week at the Perch’Xtrem in Caen (Calvados). “I will arrive in full possession of my means. We are in an extraordinary room, with a crazy audience. Every time we come, we are not disappointed. The atmosphere is unique. In France, there are two competitions like this where the public is crazy: Rouen and Clermont-Ferrand. »
In terms of results, Thibaut Collet wants to concretize the work he has done in training since the fall. “I hope to achieve a good performance, jumping over 5.80 m, 5.90 m. Why not finish in the top three, if not win the competition. That would really be a great goal. And above all, enjoy with the French public who showed us this summer that it was extraordinary to be an athlete in France.”
A summer which did not spare him, however. The memories of his participation in the Olympics, with his elimination during qualifying for the pole vault final, are still painful. “Even three months ago, you didn’t talk to me about the Games, it wasn’t possible,” admits Thibaut Collet, while certifying that today he “accepted” this poor performance even if he did not “did not digest it”. “It remains a huge disillusionment for me, even if I tried to find something positive. Even if there aren’t many…”
-After a long break, this return to competition is therefore marked by reaffirmed ambitions. “Today, I have rebuilt a new athlete, a new sportsman in me, with always high goals.” Cross the 6 meter mark, just to join the best at this altitude. And win his first international medals among seniors during the European and World Championships which take place at the beginning of March in the Netherlands and at the end of March in China.
His visit to Rouen is therefore a new stage in his reconstruction, always accompanied by “a duo of Philippe, my father and Philippe d’Encausse”. But also with something new. The presence at his side of a sports psychologist, just to definitively turn the page on Paris 2024. “It allowed me to move forward, save time and energy. We started working to optimize what remained to be optimized. This was the last thing I wasn’t tracking regularly on. » He sees it as the last piece of a puzzle entirely dedicated to performance. With a new milestone to be set this Friday during this Perche Elite tour where nearly 5,000 spectators are expected.
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