Two young athletes from Nice Côte d’Azur Athlétisme have been selected for the French team in their category: Lenny Brisseault (javelin) for the European cadet championships taking place this weekend in Gyor (Hungary), while Sacha Alessandrini (100 m hurdles, 4×100 m relay) will compete in the junior world championships from July 10 to 15 in Tampere (Finland).
Still a first-year cadet, Lenny Brisseault is competing in Hungary in his first international championship after making a remarkable debut in javelin throwing. At just 15 years old, the native of Fréjus has already made a name for himself in the past two seasons in his preferred discipline by breaking the French minimes record by more than 5 meters to become the first Frenchman to surpass 70 meters with the 600 g implement (70.74 m, on October 14, 2017). This year, he has perfectly adapted to the 700 g javelins, achieving a throw of 68.30 m, which ranks him 20th in Europe among cadets (18th with three athletes per nation). Training at the CREPS in Boulouris, Lenny Brisseault also carries a name that resonates in the world of French athletics: his mother, Magali Waldet-Brisseault, was an international shot put thrower, and his father, also his coach, competed in the Athens 2004 Olympic Games in the… javelin (record at 82.20 m)! For the teenager, this first experience will likely be very enriching in the company of the best European specialists in the discipline: Finns, Germans, Czechs, etc.
More experienced, Sacha Alessandrini will be competing in Finland in her second international championships after participating in the European cadet event in 2016 in Tbilisi (Georgia), where she reached a promising seventh place in the 100 m hurdles. Having moved up to the higher hurdles of the junior category, the Nice athlete, born in Nantes but also based in Boulouris, will be competing in the 100 m hurdles and the 4×100 m relay, events where the global competition is expected to be particularly intense. After breaking her personal record this season (13.41), the 19-year-old sprinter/hurdler achieved a supersonic time of 13.15 last Saturday in Blois, unfortunately with too much wind assistance (+2.8 m/s), which would place her in fifth place in the junior world rankings (with three athletes per nation). A potential finalist, or even better in the case of an outstanding performance, Sacha Alessandrini will also be determined to excel with her 4×100 m relay teammates, in which she holds the best time (11.68) on the straight.
by Camille Vandendriessche
