Christophe Lemaitre "White Lightning" 9.92 and 19.80!

France 2nd with a very (very) young team. In 4 years, this team can run near the Jamaïcan record.

The very young French team ran superbly. CL gave them a lead of several meters on the second leg. Jamaica's Blake took the lead on the third leg and on the final leg France placed second. I watched a replay of the race on eurosport version {youtube} and noticed the post race. In the post race Blake and Bolt especially look roided. It is evident that Bolt looks much older than 25 along with having too much bulk on his frame vs appearing natural. The man just does not appear natural, unless those are some powerful yams. Contrast with the French team {1 white 3 black}. The french relay team has 3 blacks. Surely one of the french blacks would exhibit some of the same characteristics as the jamaican relay team blacks. They do not. The French appear natural. By natural I am not just referring to muscle mass. I am also referring to skin texture, the way the ligaments cause the person to move, the aging that is evident in the facial features. If these differences are obvious on video how much more in person? I am not calling the black french sprinters small. They are not. Several of them are strong indeed. The Jamaican's appeared to have popped out of a Marvel comic book.

Thanks to the argie for posting those two great articles. Here is the 2nd one translated into english.


http://www.microsofttranslator.com/...du-sprinteur_1567102_3242.html#ens_id=1538586

Congrats to Christophe on breaking the French record in the 200M!!! I do believe we'll see significant improvement from him over the next two years.

I know very little about track and field so this is a question for White Lightning and many of the other great posters who follow track and field on this site. I know that many posters have mentioned Christophe's start isn't all that great. If he were to get that issue fixed how much would that help him? Would it be a tenth of a second gain or less?

whiteathlete33 said:

I know very little about track and field so this is a question for White Lightning and many of the other great posters who follow track and field on this site. I know that many posters have mentioned Christophe's start isn't all that great. If he were to get that issue fixed how much would that help him? Would it be a tenth of a second gain or less?

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I am similar to WA 33 in terms of track knowledge. I have watched his race on YouTube several times. I think once he perfects the turn he will greatly improve. He could have landed the silver if he had no problem with the bend. His straight away kick is amazing and he is only 21 years old.

Congrats Christophe!:hail:

In my opinion, Christophe is giving up any where from .10 to .15 from the start and through the curve. There are two really important factors in running fast other than form. One is to have a nice stride length which Christophe has. Even alot of shorter guys still have that nice stride length. You can run fast with a shorter stride like Dix but you have to have alot faster turnover of the legs. The second element is to have a high rate of force with which you strike the ground. This only comes with time. Training with heavy weights and also doing plyometric drills. This is his biggest weakness. This greater rate of force also will help to increase your stride frequency leading to faster times.

Another thing I have always noticed with Lemaitre is how his body just seems to not be squared up right on the curve. He seems to almost always been fighting his body. It doesn't look natural. He has improved his curve but it is still not even average for a sprinter as far as his form goes. There again is why the times he runs are so incredible. The only white sprinter to ever run the 200 meters faster was the great P.Mennea of Italy. Mennea ran a time of 19.79 over 30 years ago. Mennea like Lemaitre was very skinny and he was just born to run.

I wish more white athletes would run track. Even as a part time sport, it really helps you speed and coordination in the other sports. We need to see more white kids get involved in athletics. It will help us on the football and baseball fields along with on the basketball court. I think we would also see alot more whites decide to make track their dream. Lemaitre is helping to fight age old stereotypes but we will need others to follow to prove that he is not just an anomaly.

Mennea ran at altitude. I think Christophe is equal or maybe better than Mennea.

Dont forget : Christophe must run the 200m again in Bruxelles the 16th september. And Bolt will be here.

Twinsen9 said:

Mennea ran at altitude. I think Christophe is equal or maybe better than Mennea.

Dont forget : Christophe must run the 200m again in Bruxelles the 16th september. And Bolt will be here.

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Don't expect any new record in this race. They both have reached their goal and will decrease their performance level.

a VID with his girlfriend, brother and coach.
Interesting to hear his coach saying that he will strong in 4 years, and that next year in London , he will still be too young.
I realy wonder what he thinks Christophe's limits are!
In 4 years, his coach probably think of closing the gap with the world record!

[video]http://video.lequipe.fr/video/athletisme/athle-chm-c-est-la-fete-a-aix-les-bains/?sig=iLyROoaf2AvE[/video]

200m men medal ceremony

[video]http://www.televisionjamaica.com/Programmes/IAAFWORLDCHAMPIONSHIPS20.aspx/Videos/12125[/video]

LoLy said:

Don't expect any new record in this race. They both have reached their goal and will decrease their performance level.

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Hey, Christophe ran 19,80 this year, it's wonderful ! I don't want a NR in Bruxelles

But I hope a time near his NR and near Bolt

I'm not sure but I believe CL will run the 100m at the Decanation, the 18th september.

Thanks for posting those two videos. It was really great to see him on the medal stand and also to see his family, coach and girlfriend. I'm excited to see him take on Bolt again but I would really love to see him run one more 100 meters race too. I still think he could get into the high 9.80's if he had the right conditions. Regardless, it has been a great year for him. Next year should be even better. There is nothing quite like the magic of the olympics and Christophe has become of the top 5 - 10 sprinters in the world now!

CL is a very positive individual surrounded by positive coach, family , etc. Just good things are in the future! I see 9.75 100m and 19.5 200m in 1-3 years. Those are world record clean times IMHO. In my opinion steroids give .20 advantage in 100m and .30 sec advantage in 200m." Work, work, and work some more." His coach.

Maybe Bolt will run 100 m in brussels

http://www.diamondleague-brussels.c...for-missing-out-on-Worlds-100m/?Template=News

LoLy said:

let's compare Bolt and Lemaitre 's time at the same age (21):
100m
Lemaitre: 9.92
Bolt:10.03
200m
Lemaitre: 19.80
Bolt: 19.75

Bolt 22
100m: 9.69
200m:19.30

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PED's, oh the possibilities !

its amazing and that a clean CL can place in the top 5 in the world, and he still has allot of areas that can be improved. still in the rough with a bad start / drive phase and needs more curve work. regardless, you can say good by to the ER in the 100 & 200 next year.

BTW thanks argie for the two articles, great reading! and we finally had a peak at what his girlfriend looks like

Christophe reached a new level of fame in France this morning: the imitator Nicolas Canteloup on his daily morning chronicle, added a new "voice" to his register: Christophe Lemaitre!!

Do you think that Christophe could also compete in the long jump event, like Carl Lewis did in the past?

bolt looks like he is not human...lol, look at the size of his face compared to CL!
he lay have a growth disorder

Lemaitre is behind him. It's logical the bolt's face is bigger you don't think ?

Twinsen9 said:

Lemaitre is behind him. It's logical the bolt's face is bigger you don't think ?

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yes
but there is something un natural with his face and body
it almost looks like he is acromegalic
http://im.wk.io/images/v/54a7dc/finale-100m-usain-bolt-disqualifie-apres-un-faux-depart-video.jpeg

frederic38 said:

yes
but there is something un natural with his face and body
it almost looks like he is acromegalic
http://im.wk.io/images/v/54a7dc/finale-100m-usain-bolt-disqualifie-apres-un-faux-depart-video.jpeg

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That is a good picture. This guy might be filled with HGH. Look how he has that protruding chin. This is the same thing that happened to Marion Jones before she got busted in the BALCO scandal. The similarities are striking.