The French Morhad Amdouni and Méline Rollin broke the French marathon records by completing the 42.195 kilometers in 2h03min47s and 2h24min12s respectively, this Sunday February 18 in Seville. Fourth Frenchman in the Valencia marathon in December and therefore not a priority for the Olympic selection, Morhad Amdouni fulfilled his contract to continue dreaming of the Paris Games by exploding his own French record (2h05min22s in 2022) and finishing second behind the Ethiopian Deresa Gelata, very close to the European record in the discipline (2h03min36s). A few minutes after him, Méline Rollin erased Christelle Daunay’s French record (2h24min22s in 2010) with a time of 2h24min12s, finishing seventh in the women’s race won by the Ethiopian Azmera Gebru. It also takes 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 required minimums, but only three men and three women will be selected for the Games. 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.
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