Méline Rollin and Morhad Amdouni win the two French marathon records – Libération

2024-02-18 11:21:36

In great shape on the asphalt of Seville this Sunday, February 18, the two athletes achieved two impressive marks, five months before the Paris Games.

What a morning for the French background! In the space of around twenty minutes, the two national marathon records for men and women fell in Seville. Under the Andalusian sun this Sunday, February 18, Morhad Amdouni and Méline Rollin completed the 42.195 kilometers in 2 h 03 min 47 sec and 2 h 24 min 12 respectively (unofficial times).

Fourth Frenchman in the Valencia marathon in December and therefore not a priority for the Olympic selection, Morhad Amdouni, 35, knew that he had to put in a big time on Sunday if he wanted to continue dreaming of the Games in Paris. Contract more than fulfilled: the European 10,000m champion in 2018 exploded his own French record (2:05:22 in 2022) to finish 2nd behind the Ethiopian Deresa Gelata and come very close to the world record Europe of discipline (2:03:36). “Very happy to have improved the French record, not far from that of Europe. We believed in it but something was missing,” reacted on his Instagram account the marathon runner, who gave up during the World Championships in Budapest last summer.

Impressive density

A few minutes later, Méline Rollin doubled the lead for the French clan by finishing 7th in the women’s race won by Ethiopian Azmera Gebru. She was initially announced 8th at the finish. With a record time of 2 h 24 min 12 sec, she erases Christelle Daunay who had held the national reference in the discipline since 2010, in 2 h 24 min 22.

At 25, Méline Rollin is also taking a serious option for the Olympic selection, since French athletes have until April 30 to achieve the minimums. Less than six months before the Olympic Games, the French marathon density is impressive: ten athletes (five men and five women) have already achieved the minimums. Only three will be selected for the Games in each category.

With their good times achieved earlier in the winter, Mehdi Frère and Nicolas Navarro for the men and Mekdes Woldu and Mélody Julien for the women have priority, according to the selection procedures of the French Athletics Federation. Given their performances on Sunday, Morhad Amdouni and Méline Rollin are well on their way to completing the list, unless others run even faster by the end of April.

There are still many who want to do better by then. Among the men, Hassan Chahdi, seventh at the Worlds in Budapest last summer, plans to race in April just like Manon Trapp, who achieved the minimums in December in Valencia despite spraining her ankle for most of the race . Furthermore, the marathon runner Clémence Calvin, once again authorized to run after a four-year suspension for evading a doping control, could also try her luck.

Updated: at 3:06 p.m. with Amdouni’s reaction.