Lavillenie, Bourgoin, Zhoya... Five moments to follow this Sunday at the French Championships in Talence

Leading the French record with 5.82m, the minimum for Tokyo, which he has cleared twice, Renaud Lavillenie will soon celebrate his 39th birthday, but remains very competitive and is finally free of the physical problems that have hampered him in recent seasons. The 2012 Olympic champion will try to take the national title from the three-time champion, Thibaut Collet, on the Thouars stadium jump, who has been struggling this summer and is still looking for the minimum for the World Championships. Proof of the traditional density in the discipline, there will be no shortage of podium contenders, from Ethan Cormont to Baptiste Thiery, including Anthony Ammirati and Robin Emig.

Who will be crowned French champion on the track? It's a clever person who can make a confident prediction, given the number of contenders. On Saturday, Samuel Vessat set the best time of the day, in 45''39, a new personal best for someone who is also a good basketball player. In the same heat, Téo Andant ran in 45''48, while Muhammad Abdallah Kunta won his in 45''52 by cutting his effort quite sharply before the finish line. However, for Jimy Soudril, hopes of a good showing ended fairly quickly in the heat, when the recent bronze medalist at the European Indoor Championships felt that the hamstring injury he sustained in the spring wouldn't allow him to defend his chances normally. The Nantes native stopped his effort fifty meters from the finish line.

By winning his heat on Saturday in the excellent time of 13''10 (0.5 m/s), Just Kwaou-Mathey made his mark. A little over a year after his right Achilles tendon injury, the athlete trained by Giscard Samba has already returned to an excellent level. He will be a key rival for Sasha Zhoya (winner in 13''35 on Saturday in the heat without pushing himself) and Wilhem Belocian (second in his heat in 13''31 behind Aurel Manga, winner in 13''26), all three men having already achieved the minimum time for Tokyo. As for Pascal Martinot-Lagarde, 3rd in his heat (the one won by Kwaou-Mathey) in 13''57, he will have to raise his level considerably to succeed in his ambitious challenge in Talence: podium and minimum time for the World Championships (13''22).

This is the race of the weekend that everyone is waiting for, as the density is so high. Moreover, the series have already demonstrated this with a huge crash this Saturday that brought down Louis Gilavert, Maël Gouyette and Anicet Kozar. The three have been repêchés and the final could therefore be run with 15 even if among the three mentioned, some could withdraw. In any case, the spectacle will be there since at the start, there will be 6 who have already achieved the minimum time for Tokyo (3'32''09) and there are only three places on the plane to Japan. With his French record from Paris, Azeddine Habz is the big favorite but the danger will come from everywhere with notably Flavien Szot and Paul Anselmini, recent European U23 vice-champion in the discipline.

In the absence of Rénelle Lamote, who has withdrawn, the 800m at the French Elite Championships looks wide open. On paper, with her time of 1:57.81 this season, Anaïs Bourgoin, bronze medalist at Euro 2024, appears to be the strongest. But the trained police officer will have to be very wary of Clara Liberman, who emerged this winter with a second-place finish at the Euro Indoor Championships and who broke the 1:59 barrier this summer (1:58.96). Last year's winner, Charlotte Pizzo (1:59.74 this season) is the third contender for the title, especially since the athlete from Fontainebleau will have little to lose and should try to get the race going to destabilize these two opponents who have a strong finish.