Nice natives Margot Chevrier and Makenson Gletty completed their events at the Birmingham European Athletics Championships. The pole vaulter, returning to international competition two years after her terrible injury, finishes in 4th place, while the decathlete finishes 6th.
Margot Chevrier brilliant fourth with a touch of frustration
Two years after her serious ankle injury, Margot Chevrier reached a European Athletics Championships final. Born in Nice and competing for Stade Bordelais, the 26-year-old pole vaulter cleared 4.50 m in qualifications before continuing her competition in the final.
The Nice athlete started the final with a bar at 4.30 m cleared on the first attempt. Same success at 4.45 m. Margot Chevrier then cleared 4.60 m on her first try. A height that constitutes her best jump of the season.
The next bar, set at 4.70 m, could not be cleared by the Maralpine athlete, thus ending her impressive competition. A clearance that would have allowed Margot Chevrier to aim for a podium place. The Nice athlete ultimately finishes fourth ex aequo with Belgian Elien Vekemans. “ I’m not quite sure where I stand. I have a lot of pride but I’m hyper frustrated. I think the work is done. It wasn’t for today but it will be for another day and it’s not unreasonable to think about Los Angeles (for the next Olympics)”, the Nice native said after her competition.
The result extends her return to competition undertaken over several months. In July, Margot Chevrier had already cleared 4.55 m at the French Championships in Albi. The season had nonetheless started with competitions at 3.38 m. Progress then accelerated with a jump of 4.40 m in Montreuil, then 4.55 m in Albi.
Qualification for the European Championships also had particular significance. Margot Chevrier had obtained her selection according to the French Athletics Federation’s exception criteria, without having achieved the required minimums.
Before the final, the Nice athlete had summarized the journey since her injury: “ It also means that I wouldn’t have ended my career in Blue on a stretcher. That’s reassuring for me.”
The Birmingham final thus marks a new stage in this comeback. Marie-Julie Bonnin, her training partner with Stade Bordelais, French record holder, won the bronze medal. The Frenchwoman becomes the first French tricolor medalist in pole vault in the history of the European Championships.
Makenson Gletty sixth in the decathlon after a long ordeal
Makenson Gletty approached the final day of the decathlon with a position in the leading group. The Nice athlete occupied fourth place after five events, with 4,323 points. The Nice Côte d’Azur Athletics member notably took the second place in the shot put competition with a throw of 15.65 m. The high jump also provided precious points, despite two scares at 1.99 m then 2.02 m.
Thursday morning, Makenson Gletty got off to a good start on his final day. The Nice athlete won his heat in the 110 m hurdles in 14”18. At this point in the competition, only 66 points separated him from first place held by German Leo Neugebauer.
What followed was more complicated. In the discus, a throw of 41.60 m pushed the Frenchman away from the podium. The deficit to the leaders exceeded 300 points.
It was at the pole vault that medal hopes vanished. Makenson Gletty cleared 4.60 m. The 4.80 m bar then did not pass. The fault was partly due to a technical problem. The poles holding the bar had been left at 4.70 m instead of the planned height. Makenson Gletty and Leo Neugebauer were given an additional attempt to compensate for this error. Unfortunately, a second incident with the placement of the runway, which was at 60 cm instead of the 80 cm requested by the athlete, definitively eliminated the Azure Coast athlete from his competition. After yet another protest, he was given a fifth jump, without managing to clear the 4.80 m height… “I really hoped to deliver a great performance to at least maintain that fourth place or go for the podium, but now the objective is unattainable”, the Nice native explained after his competition.
The final two events did not allow the Nice athlete to return to the medal race. The Maralpin threw the javelin at 60.07 m before completing the 1,500 m in 4’26”11, his best time of the season.
With 8,270 points, Makenson Gletty ultimately takes sixth place in the decathlon at the Birmingham European Championships. The podium consists of Leo Neugebauer with 8,611 points, Niklas Kaul with 8,573 points and Sander Skotheim with 8,433 points.
In Rome, at the previous European Championships, the Nice athlete won the bronze medal with 8,606 points. In Birmingham, the hoped-for medal is therefore not forthcoming. The competition nonetheless allows the two-time French decathlon champion to finish another European campaign in the leading group.
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