2023-07-30 11:59:07
The line crossed, Sasha Zhoya did not cut her effort, continuing to run to the stands, her finger brandished in the air, a resounding “Let’s go” escaping from her lungs. In his cry, the spectators of the Municipal Stadium of Albi could as much hear the joy of the young Frenchman to have won a second national title in the 110m hurdles, Saturday, at only 21 years old, as the relief to have already returned to his best. level, after a winter preparation marred by his injuries.
His time spoke for him: in 13′’01 a bit too windy to be approved (+2.3m/s), he made his mark before the Budapest Worlds (from August 19 to 27), his big meeting of summer.
His personal best in the legs
“I would have liked to go under 13 seconds, it didn’t go far even if there was too much wind, reacted Zhoya, who beat Wilhem Belocian (13’07) and Just Kwaou-Mathey (13 ′’19) in the final. Maybe with a wind of 1.5 m/s and a good race it will go below 13, that’s the goal. “The Franco-Australian seems in any case clearly to have in his legs his personal best (13′’17), obtained during these same French Championships in Caen last year.
What give him, inevitably, the desire for medals in the court above, a year after being eliminated in the semi-finals of the Worlds in Eugene. “There is pressure because people want me to go fast, but it’s good pressure, explained the junior world record holder about the Hungarian deadline. I want to take the French record (12′’95) and one day the world record (12′’80), so I have to be focused on each training session, on each competition. But I’m still young in the game, I have to gain experience. »
His second year senior
Because if his prize list begins to grow on the hexagonal scene, Zhoya is only in his second year among the seniors and must still tame this sudden change of category… What the general public sometimes, according to him, tends to forget. “Some people think that by going from 99cm hurdles (juniors) to 106cm hurdles (seniors), you will do the same times. I do not know anyone who has done this in a year, he says. My love is to look at the comments about me on the Internet, and I answer on the track (smile). »
Zhoya leaves behind his physical problems at the start of the year, namely an inflammation in his hip followed by a broken toe, which prevented him from taking part in the indoor season. “I started the season very late. But I am always present and I answer on the track. I often start the season with glitches. In juniors already, it was a tradition. At the time, the disciple of Ladji Doucouré, world champion in the 110m hurdles in 2005, also had another habit: that of monopolizing the world podiums…
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