French Lemaitre, first white man to run 100m in under 10 seconds
The young French sprinter Cristophe Lemaitre became on Friday the first white man to run the 100 meters in under 10 seconds. Lemaitre crossed the 100m line at Valence with 9,98 time, overcoming both France’s best time at 100m who belonged to the black Ronald Pognon (9,99) and also white men’s record for the same distance. FFA’s spokesman Jean Philippe Manzelle declared already that the time is the best a white man provided ever, Lemaitre being included in the 72 sprinters list who finished the 100m below 10 seconds.
During his competition, the French athlete was also helped by the wind which blew with 1,3 m/s, but he’s not the only one among the best sprinters ever who were also “pushed” by the wind. Cristophe Lemaitre who’s only 20-year-old declared at the end that although he knew is going to be a pretty tough compete, but the only thing he could think about was the title.
The French champion also added: “I knew the race is gonna be a tough one, but I just wanted the title, that’s all. That’s the only thing I had in mind. Now I’m happy and I’ll take off in Barcelona for the Europeans with the same motivation. I hope I’ll provide even a much better performance, to overcome my own record and get a medal.”
