18:58 – Hicham El Guerroudj opens the evening
It is the great Hicham El Guerroudj (double Olympic champion in Athens, 1500m and 5000m) who gives the three shots for the opening of the athletics evening
18:56 – Louise Maravail in the 4x400m relay
400m hurdles finalist Louise Maraval (8th) is expected to be part of the women’s 4 x 400 relay in the final. She will be accompanied by Shana Grebo, Amandine Brossier and Alexe Deau (or Sounkamba Sylla)
18:50 – Girard confident for Samba-Mayela
Patricia Girard, the last French woman to win a medal in the 100m hurdles (bronze in 1996) is confident for Samba-Mayela”She did most of the work. Technically, I found her very good, a little less in the legs than a month and a half ago. For these big races I think she likes to be a little bit apart, to do her race all by herself.”
18:43 – Tamberi well present in the high jump final
Gianmarco Tamberi, who was expected to be the star of the high jump competition, will be present tonight. But the Italian will probably not be 100%, he was hospitalized again this morning for kidney stones. Tamberi is the Olympic high jump title holder jointly with the Qatari Barshim.
18:41 – For Bosse the favorite is Sedjati
For the former world champion of the discipline (2017) and 4th in Rio, Pierre-Ambroise Bosse, the big favorite remains Sedjati”There are so many guys who can be Olympic champions. There are only jackals in this final. If I had to bet on someone, it would be Sedjati. Gabirel, he is experiencing something that no one has ever experienced. The whole country is waiting for this. Either it inhibits him, or it heats him up. For the moment, he is responding.”
18:34 – First race, the 800m
The first race of the evening will take place at 7:05 p.m., it will be a very intense 800m with the Canadian world champion Arop, one of the outsiders and junior world record holder, the Kenyan Emmanuel Wanyoni. Next to them the big favorite will be Djamel Sadjeti, impressive this season and author of the 3rd best performance of all time (1’41”55). Our Frenchman Gabirel Tual also has a big card to play, he who was world champion in Rome, is having a magical season with breathtaking race management.
18:27 – Avoiding zero points
For this last evening, France can still avoid a zero point (a sad result from Sydney which can be equalled) with two real chances of medals: Gabirel Tual in the 800m and Cyrena Samba-Maeva in the 100m hurdles.
If for the hurdler who is not in the best of shape and who qualified on time in the final a place outside the podium would not be a catastrophe, this is not the case for Gabriel Tual who has done everything possible for a medal at the Olympics, to the point of arriving in Paris with the 4th best performance of all time (1’41″65)
18:20 – Evening program
Good evening everyone, we will follow together with you the last evening of Athletics (the last event will take place tomorrow morning with the women’s marathon)
Below is the program:
19:00 – High Jump (M) • Final
19:05 – 800 m (H) • Final (with Gabriel Tual)
19:30 – Javelin throw (F) • Final
19:35 – 100m hurdles (F) • Final (with Cyrena Samba-Mayela)
7:50 p.m. – 5,000 m (M) • Final
8:15 p.m. – 1,500 m (F) • Final (with Agathe Guillemot)
21:00 – 4 x 400 m relay (M) • Final with the French men’s relay team
9:14 p.m. – 4 x 400 m relay (F) • Final with the French women’s relay team