Manon Trapp monumental, Yann Schrub second

Manon Trapp monumental, Yann Schrub second
Manon Trapp monumental, Yann Schrub second

The asphalt of the capital heated up again this Sunday morning with the Vredestein 20 km from ! Thanks to the images provided by the organization, you watched live on our Facebook page the victory of the Ethiopian Mekonen Hayimro Yele (58’05) who beat Yann Schrub (58’07) on the line, while ‘Emmanuel Roudolff-Levisse (58’09) takes third place. They were joined six minutes later by Manon Trapp who completed an incredible race with a time of 1h04’46, synonymous with the second best time in the history of the event. There were more than 30,000 followers of the running to rush to the foot of the Eiffel Tower. Narrative !

So there were a lot of people there, and beautiful people, with two former winners of the Vredestein 20 km from Paris, the Kenyan Elvis Tabarach and the French Yann Schrubrespectively sovereign in 2023 and 2022, which did not take long to make observers understand that they had not come to make up the numbers (passage to the 5th km in 14’48 and to the 10th km in 29′ 11). But victory only took shape in the very last hectometers. Still one kilometer from the finish, we of course suspected that the final victory would not escape one of the seven men, including three Frenchmen (Yann Schrub, Emmanuel Roudolff-Levisse et Felix Bour) who formed the leading peloton.

On the offensive, Yann Schrub tried everything by taking responsibility and toughening up the pace. With his current form, the European cross-country champion logically did not find the physical resources necessary to repel the final assault of Mekonen Haimro Yele which had managed to slip into the right breakaway, without ever putting his nose out of the window throughout the race (58’05 against 58’07). Lhe last word went to the Ethiopian, the strongest this Sunday.

Yann Schrub made do with the weapons of the moment

In the recovery phase with a long Olympic year, the resident of Athlé Sports Arrondissements, twelfth in the final of the Paris Olympics over 5000 m, admitted not having managed to increase the pace as he wanted at the end : « I thought that in the end I could win. The Ethiopian put up quite a sprint and I tried to counter him and got back in front, but he fired one last shot and I didn’t have the resources to get ahead of him. I’m very happy today because it’s been a month since I got back in shape, I’m back in shape. I’m missing two weeks of work to have a slightly more efficient finish. What I remember is that it’s just one stage in the season. There were a lot of French people in front so that allows you to surpass yourself. My next race will be the selection cross for the European Championships in Allonnes on November 17 ».

Behind him, Emmanuel Roudolff-Levissethird in the 2024 French Cross-Country Championships, managed his race well to reach the third step of the podium in 58’09: « There were three French people until the final sprint. We were all thinking about winning and I think we all thought there could be three of us on the podium. Everything came down to the last 400 meters. I tried to respond to the sprint but I didn’t really have the legs left at the end “. Fourth place goes to the defending champion Elvis Tabarach (4th in 58’14). Next in the ranking, Felix Bour (5th and 58’18), Luc Le Baron (58’46) et Alexis Miellet (9th in 59’45) who entered the top 10, while reaching the finish line under the race hour.

Manon Trapp : « I didn’t think I would win this morning.”

The battle for first place also took a little time to reach its verdict: Manon Trapp defeated all its biggest rivals to achieve a prestigious victory in the capital. After a great start (16’15 at the 5th km and 32’09 at the 10th km, two seconds more than his competition record!). If Jean-François Pontier’s student took advantage of the Kenyan’s failure Rebecca Chepkwemoi (3rd in 1h07’03) who exploded between the 10th and 15th km, the 24-year-old cross-country skier (record in 2h25’45 in a marathon in Valencia in 2023) has become irreparably detached. It took 1h04’46 for the triple French cross-country champion (2021, 2022 and 2023) to complete the 20 milestones. A time full of promise which constitutes the second time ever achieved in 46 editions on the Vredestein 20 km of Paris. The record has been held since 2023 by Kenyan Gladys Jemaiyo in 1h04’30.

The representative of the Entente Savoie Athlé was over the moon at the time of the analysis: « I’m super happy because I haven’t specially prepared for this race, I’m preparing more for the cross country at the end of the year. The goal was to get back into competition and I had great feelings. I wanted to know where I was because it had been a while since I had put on a bib. There is density in Paris, and there are climbs and descents on the route which break up the rhythm and which allow you to think strategically. I didn’t think I would win this morning, and I didn’t even look at which athletes were there at the start. I can’t wait to get back into cross country now! »

The Ethiopian Bikile Gudina inherited a good second place in 1h05’54. Let us add that Salome Brown (4th in 1h08’05), Latifa Mokhtari (5e en 1h08’26), Clemence Calvin (7e en 1h08’48), Mathilde Sénéchal (8th and 1h09’19), Lorena Meningand (9e en 1h09’28) et Ophélie Serra-Boxberger (10th in 1h10’03) climbed into the top ten. Impossible not to highlight the performance ofAnaïs Quemenerthird among women last year, who awaits a happy event for February 2025.he 2022 French marathon champion superbly covered the distance in 1h24’22.

31 000 champions !

The Vredestein 20 km from Paris are always full. They again attracted a lot of people and with more than 31,000 participants tackling the 20 km (23 SAS at the start), the participation record simply fell. Everyone experienced a sublime crossing of the City of Lights (Eiffel Tower, Trocadéro, Arc de Triomphe, de Boulogne, Roland Garros, Maison de la Radio, Grand Palais, Tuileries, Pont Royal) where the spectators, each year more numerous, and the musical entertainment throughout the course punctuated every moment, every stride, every breath.

At the end of long weeks of preparation and sacrifices, thousands of runners made it to the end, all with different objectives: to break a record, prepare for a future marathon, pass under a symbolic barrier, run for a good cause or simply be finisher or become a finisher again. We find all kinds of emotions: Screams of joy, laughter, tears, and for everyone a great happiness when hanging the medal around their neck.

A little refresher from the excitement and festive moments of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games: This is what the thousands of runners experienced this Sunday.

(Re)watch the race in live conditions:

All the results des Vredestein 20 km from Paris 2024

Photo credits: Antoine Decottignies / STADIUM

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