Christophe Lemaitre "White Lightning" 9.92 and 19.80!

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nash99

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Good win. Now on to the 200m and hopefully a sub 20 second run. It is sad that all these former Africans and Jamaicans are running as "Europeans". Most are former drug cheats as well. Its one thing to grow up in the country and compete but its another thing to become a top sprinter in Nigeria or somewhere and then decide to run for Norway or whoever. Its a disgrace and the country should be disgraced. Its not like white swimmers or skiers go to Kenyan to compete for them.........I'd also like to point out that the African Games are going on right now as well and the 100m times are not all that impressive..10.2-10.4...of course they aren't using steroids down there most likely......I have to laugh when I see all these Euro records still held by the East German women from the 1980s. I think everyone will agree that PEDs played a part but when the Jamaicans have 5 guys in the Olympic 100m final and break the world records by .5 seconds the media just tells us how "athletic" they are......LOL
 
albinosprint

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foobar75

foobar75

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I watched the video several times, and up until the 50m mark or so, CLM is 5th or 6th, with Chambers apparently headed for an easy victory. Then, our man turns on the afterburners, and with that incredible closing speed, he catches and passes everyone to earn this well-deserved victory. All of this despite his terrible start, and in my opinion, getting a less than desirable lane draw in #6.

His victory today was equally as impressive as the 9.98, if not more. I know, personally, I cannot thank him enough for once again getting me interested in sprints. I've always been a T&F fan, but the African dominance in the 100/200 has gotten so old and tiresome, and now, we have this 100% white man who's about to shake things up.

Thank you CLM and may greater success and glory come your way in the years to come.
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white lightning

white lightning

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Great post foobar75. That might just be the post of the day. I am a life long track fan and I also used to sprint. I know first hand what your talking about. It has been one of the hardest sports to watch from our perspective but that always made me fight even harder to support the very few white sprinters that would try to stand up against the almost impossible odds. No one believed in them. critics, fans, scientists, and coach after coach told them it was not possible to compete. Even many sprinters had their own family tell them to give it up. What are you thinking? It's just not possible. For decades now, the few that have tried have come from Europe. I knew even though it had been a long time that eventually one of them would break through. The day has finally come.

I'm so glad your interest in track has been rekindled. Not only yourself but countless other members for the first time are taking an interest in Athletics. Some are watching their very first track meets. These are very exciting times for me and for all of us here. The fact that Lemaitre can make up that much ground on world class sprinters is amazing. He runs down people the way Carl Lewis used to. The difference is that he is clean and he doesn't have half of Carls strength, drive phase or style. When he gets more strength, a true drive phase, and perfects his sprinting technique, who knows how fast he can run!

The kid is the real deal. Even Ato Boldon gave him his due today and said he is legit. Ato Boldon has never said that about any other white sprinter. The kid cannot be ignorred anymore. The times will come but the victories are the most important thing. Winning gold medals will put your name in the history books forever. I cannot thank this kid enough.

People thought I was crazy saying whites can run sub 10. Year after year I stood by myself repeating my beliefs. Well they have finally come true. Now what happens from here forward will be even more exciting. From how much better Christohpe will get to the countless kids that will believe that they to can aspire to be the fastest man in the world someday.

This is like a book that you don't want to end. A movie where we are only at the beginning. How will it end is anyones guess but I wouldn't ever doubt this kid. I can't wait for the rounds of the 200 meters to begin. He is just so much fun to watch! Good luck to Christophe in going for the Golden Double!Edited by: white lightning
 
white lightning

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Can you please tell us some of what is being said. Is the guy who is by himself his public relations guy or is he a family member? Just curious because I saw him on the tv show in France that you translated for us. Could you please help to do this again. Thank you my friend.
 
foobar75

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WL, your patience and persistence has finally paid off and I can imagine how happy you must be! This has been a surreal last few weeks, and it's just the beginning.Now, here's hoping we get to enjoy this long awaited and overdue moment for many more years.

The Master, thank you for posting the new video! Yes, we need some translations right away! It looks like the announcer guy in the middle is so excited his head is about the explode!
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And what a nice guy CLM is, giving everyone hugs, kisses, and autographs. When good things happen to good, deserving people, it makes it that much sweeter for sure.
 
white lightning

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If you think the announcer guy in the middle was loud, you should have heard me only I was yelling in english. Lol. I love when they zoom in on Chambers for the 2nd time after he lost. He is is a state of disbelief. He is saying in his mind, I can't believe I lost to that skinny white boy. Haha. To be fair, Chambers was a gentleman in defeat. I give him credit. He has at least matured a little bit. I have to give credit where credit is due but I just can't stand cheaters.

It's hard to belive that Lemaitre will be running the 200 meter heats in around 3-4 hours from now. The semifinals are tommorow night in the 2nd session so we will get to see him run twice in the same day again. I hope he can get a little rest before hand. Imagine all of the media and fan requests. Good luck Pepe!
 
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I just read an article on the front page of trackandfieldnews.com titled, "Christophe Lemaitre set for the big time", which is the most misleading title I've ever seen. It could not have been more demeaning and insulting. The link can be foundhere. Literally from the caption under the title, to the caption under the picture, to the very last sentence, and everything in between, this article demeans, insults, and belittles CLM's accomplishment yesterday and his potential as an athlete. The author does find time to compliment and even laud on the talent of the sprinter who finished second to Lemaitre, but when it comes time for him to begrudgingly acknowledge Lemaitre's win of a European title at 20 years old into a stiff headwind, all he can say is the time was weak, and he did so only out of courage and resiliency. Not even a passing mention of talent. Hopefully this hyperlink will work(never tried one before), because this article is a stark reminder to the b.s. we're fighting against on this site.
 
white is right

white is right

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Short of fatigue or a pace judgement mistake he should easily win the 200 meters on Friday. He has too much speed endurance for this class of sprinter. If he was running more 200 races I would be certain that 20 second barrier will be smashed on Friday. I guess I will hedge my bets and say he will smash the French record.....
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white lightning

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I agree white is right. If I were in Vegas or betting with an off shore account, he wins the 200 meters crown by a big margin in a new French National Record! They can insult him, ignore him, try to discredit him, but it will not matter. He is like Borzov. He knows their games and fears no one. He is simply a phenom. Just wait until he gets the whole package in place. He will scare the living sh** out of them!
 
mastermulti

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"In truth, though, he was not in the same league as the coltish Lemaitre who had to be commended for putting up with all the insufferable hype and for coping with obvious nerves at the start, which made him look like a naughty kid who wished he could be anywhere else as he could not even bring himself to look up from his spikes.
He gave every impression of remembering his major championship debut at the Berlin World Championships last year when he false started and got disqualified. Then, when he finally stuttered out of the blocks slower than anyone else in the field last night, with a reaction time of 0.224 secs - in sprinting terms, a veritable lifetime - it took a champion's composure for him to gallop past the field."

above is an excerpt of that English article. Pretty fair I thought, except for the B/S about MLF's 9.97 (which isn't recognised. Canada was giving everyone fast times that night)

He could run sub 20 now with that speed, but it all depends on how his groin (and he) shapes up and what conditions are on the day.
If he's not really pushed he may even be more relaxed in formEdited by: mastermulti
 
white lightning

white lightning

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Off course not but I'm going to work on it. Trust me. I will get it done if it's the last thing I do. They need to give him credit and come to grips with the fact that he is for real and he is not going away any time soon! I wish I could help get the Klitshcko Brothers more publicity. Their Public Relations Manager has failed them. I do know what they are up against however so it's not easy in this country we live in. This kid will be on Leno someday. He also will grace the cover of S.I.
 
white lightning

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Great post mastermuliti. Didn't see you here much yesterday. You were missed mate! Edited by: white lightning
 
Bk21

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white lightning said:
Can you please tell us some of what is being said. Is the guy who is by himself his public relations guy or is he a family member? Just curious because I saw him on the tv show in France that you translated for us. Could you please help to do this again. Thank you my friend.
Click to expand...
the guy who was by himself is the father of Christophe, he said that he's so proud and that he can't contain his tears.. also he said that he thought that he was over when he saw the catastrophic start.
for the speaker he's just ecstatic, he too thought that it was over too soon:
I didn't beleive a second after this slow start, the father: I thought that he blew it!
speaker: Chambers like a champion come to felicitate the winner
Stephane Diagana (consultant): he had to stay in touch with the others, since he has no big experience he could've been stressed out by seeing everybody ahead but he stayed relaxed and did his race to "exceed?" (is that the right term?) all the others. his force is always his end of race, it wasn't simple at all and it makes the title even more beautiful
speaker: he was more stressed out than the semi-finals [...] we didn't have a european champian since 1962!

note: speakers and media speak about him like he was their own son: they call him "little boy" (le gamin) or "my boy" (mon garçon), or the youngster (le jeunot..)
 
white lightning

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Thank you bk21. All of us here at the board appreciate it. Your a welcome addition to the board. I think that alot of us here are going to have to learn french. If not it is so nice to have some members who can understand this beautiful language. Looking forward to the 200 Heats which should be starting with in the next hour or so.
 
LoLy

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<t></t><table><t><tr align="center"><td>1</td>
<td align="left">Christophe LEMAITRE</td>
<td align="left">
france.gif
FRA</td>
<td align="left">20.64 Q</td></tr><tr align="center">
<td>2</td>
<td align="left">Arnaldo ABRANTES</td>
<td align="left">
portugal.gif
POR</td>
<td align="left">20.87 Q</td></tr><tr align="center">
<td>3</td>
<td align="left">Jeffrey LAWAL-BALOGUN</td>
<td align="left">
grande-bretagne.gif
GBR</td>
<td align="left">20.93 Q</td></tr><tr align="center">
<td>4</td>
<td align="left">Daniel SCHNELTING</td>
<td align="left">
allemagne.gif
GER</td>
<td align="left">20.98 </td></tr><tr align="center">
<td>5</td>
<td align="left">Petr SZETEI</td>
<td align="left">
republique-tcheque.gif
CZE</td>
<td align="left">21.06 </td></tr><tr align="center">
<td>6</td>
<td align="left">Ryan MOSELEY</td>
<td align="left">
autriche.gif
AUT</td>
<td align="left">21.07 </td></tr><tr align="center">
<td>7</td>
<td align="left">Matic OSOVNIKAR</td>
<td align="left">
slovenie.gif
SLO</td>
<td align="left">21.36 </td></tr><tr align="center">
<td>8</td>
<td align="left">Alex WILSON</td>
<td align="left">
suisse.gif
SUI</td>
<td align="left">21.40 </td></tr></t></table>
he's not happy of his race
He said he had problem to wake up in the morning, because he hadn't much sleep due to protocol issue.
He said he'll try to rest in the afternoon before the semifinal this evening.
regarding of the average time by other competitors, the title is very accessible to him if he can rest to run his best (20"16).

Edited by: LoLy
 
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freedom1

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RankAthlete Nation Result
1LEMAITRE, ChristopheFRA 20.39 Q

2MALCOLM, ChristianGBR 20.58 Q

3ALERTE, DavidFRA 20.59 Q

4WISSMAN, JohanSWE 20.77

5KRYNSKI, KamilPOL 20.81=PB

6Ã...STRAND, JonathanFIN 20.81

7SCHNEEBERGER, MarcSUI 20.82

8LAWAL-BALOGUN, JeffreyGBR 20.85
 
albinosprint

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can you say double gold? as long as he doesn't get hurt, its in the bag!he is going to drop a new NR also, I just know it.
 
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