After three days of intense competition, the athletes of Nice Côte d’Azur Athletics climbed the podium three times at the elite French championships in Albi (Tarn).
Following in the footsteps of Frédéric Dagée, crowned for the third consecutive time, Mathilde Andraud, and Rouguy Diallo with bronze, several athletes from Nice stood out by reaching the finals and improving their personal records.
Frédéric Dagée confirmed his status as the top French shot-putter by securing his third consecutive elite French championship title in Albi. Assured of victory after an initial throw of 19.46 m, the 25-year-old from Nice luxuriously won the competition ahead of Congolese athlete Franck Elemba, who was fourth in the last Olympic Games, with a final attempt of 20.01 m, just five centimeters more than his opponent.
Rouguy Diallo finished third in a triple jump competition marked by the superb performance of Jeanine Assani-Issouf from Limoges (14.43 m). A week after achieving her record of 14.27 m on June 30 in Paris, the 2014 junior world champion remained at a mark of 13.97 m on Sunday.
Hindered all season by an Achilles tendon pain, Mathilde Andraud also failed to achieve the much-anticipated throw to claim her sixth national outdoor title. Consistent around 53 meters, the French javelin record holder (63.54 m in 2016) had to settle for the bronze medal on Saturday with a throw of 53.74 m, nearly five meters less than her best performance of the year (58.32 m).
Medaled in the last three editions, Dean-Nick Allen narrowly missed a new podium spot, finishing fourth in the discus throw on Sunday with a throw of 51.71 m, only 37 centimeters shy of bronze. The day before, his teammate Aurélien Fabreguettes was eliminated in the discus qualification (43.42 m). Conversely, the other NCAA finalist, the Italian Sofia Bonicalza, was a bit of a surprise, finishing eighth in the 200 meters in 23.66 seconds, just six hundredths off her record!
Camille Vandendriessche
