Lemaitre Downs Chambers to Take Gold
France’s young athlete Christophe Lemaitre won the 100m running the distance in 10.11 second to down Britain’s main favorite Dwain Chambers .07 hundreds of a second. The Frenchman lost a bit of the start, but picked up on his speed to cross first the finish line. Lemaitre, who is the best white athlete to run under ten seconds the 100m (9.99), declared his very happy winning the brilliant final in Barcelona, where the European Championships take place these days. He said: “It was a brilliant final and I’m very happy tonight. I didn’t have a good start in the final but picked up very well on my speed.”
Dwain Chambers, who came fifth at 10.18 seconds, praised Lemaitre’s run, but showed himself disappointed with the race: “I’ve come here and I’ve loved every minute of it. Hats off to Christophe Lemaitre. He hasn’t put a foot wrong at all. Of course I’m disappointed and I’m sure it will sink in but for now I just want to say that it didn’t go for me here but I want to look forward to competing next year.” However, although considered the main contender for the 100m, it was Chambers compatriot Lewis Francis who crossed second the finish line to take in this way the silver medal. The Britain, who came to Barcelona due to a “lucky star” being named in the relay squad only, declared right after the race that despite of not being credited with reaching even the final, he’s very pleased with the silver: “I came here on a lucky star and I was told I would not even make the final. But I’ve came here and I’ve got silver and for all the knocks and the setbacks I’ve taken, this makes it all worthwhile. This is the start of the rebuilding of Mark Lewis-Francis.”
“I can’t say how much of an honour it is to be coached by Linford Christie. He has been an inspiration for me since I was a kid and he has motivated me in every race at these championships.” The final table looked as it follows: 1. Christophe Lemaiter – 10.11, while the second place time has been reached by four of the runners, namely Mark Lewis Francis, French Martial Mbandjock, Portugal’s Francis Obikwelu (who was the defending champion) and Dwain Chambers. The sixth and the seventh places were taken by Norway’s Jaysuma Saidy Ndure who crossed the line at 10.31 and Italian Emanuele di Gregorio with 10.34, while his compatriot Simone Collio didn’t finish the race due to an injury meters from the start.
