by Larry Eder
Lavillenie clears 6.03m! 2011 Euro Indoors, Photo by PhotoRun.net.
Renaud Lavillenie won the event by 5.85m. Now, it was time to entertain his French fans, and that he did. First, he set a stadium record, and the crowd went nuts….
Renaud Lavillenie clearing 6.03 meters, 2011 Euro Indoors, photo by PhotoRun.net.
Lavillenie cleared 6.03 meters, a new French record and the World leader! He then made three game attempts at the world record of one Sergei Bubka, actually attempting 6.16 meters, which would have broken Bubka’s record.The funny thing was, Sergei Bubka was there. That night, thanks to John Capriotti of Nike, I was able to meet Sergei Bubka, and he told me that he was quite impressed with Lavillenie’s jumping. He also told those assembled about one of his first world records. (That will be an upcoming column).
Renaud Lavillenie showing off his flag and shoe brand….photo by PhotoRun.net.
I was pretty excited about meeting Bubka. The next day, while walking through the media tribune, Renaud Lavillenie was there, finishing an interview with French TV 4. I waited, went up, took a deep breath and said, ” Renaud? Je m’appelle Lawron Eder, and J’ecrire pour le magazin Athletics Americain. Congratulations on your record mondiale.” At least that is what I hoped I was saying. It could have been, ” Your snails jumped very high today.” I was nervous!
He smiled and shook my hand, I believe, hoping that the whacked out American would leave quickly and not quote the Marquis de Lafeyette or something.
The truth is, Renaud Lavillenie of France is one of the two most dominant vaulters of this era, and his Euro Championships showed that. Let’s see what he does outdoors!
