Pierre-Bénite (France) (AFP)

Terrible weather conditions on Friday afternoon in Pierre-Bénite (Rhône) prevented Renaud Lavillenie from making his comeback, postponed to Saturday, while the Burkinabé Hugues-Fabrice Zango again impressed in the triple jump.

The downpours that fell on the Lyon suburbs got the better of the two pole vault competitions, postponed to Saturday (3:00 p.m. for men, 4:00 p.m. for women).

Renaud Lavillenie must therefore wait one more day to make his return to this season truncated by the health crisis (Olympics postponed to 2021, Euro canceled).

Injured at the end of June in his left thumb and then operated on, the former world record holder and 2012 Olympic champion aligns himself with the Envol trophy, notably with his brother Valentin Lavillenie and hope Thibaut Collet.

A little later in the evening, the rain had dropped in intensity and even let a few rays of sunshine and a double rainbow appear when the Burkinabé Hugues-Fabrice Zango set off on the triple jump.

- "A big training" -

With a last test at 17.11 m (wind of +0.4 m / s) despite the coolness of the falling night, the world bronze medalist justified his status as the best performer of the season (17.43 m) and world leader of the discipline.

"I came for a big training, jumping on ten strides (a reduced momentum for him, note), he declared. With the rain the conditions were not great, but today I worked a technical gesture that will certainly serve me well over the next six months and for the Olympic Games. All competitions are good for learning. "

“In the rain, you have to be very good technically, he added. Technical waste can lead to injury. I put the emphasis on my support so as not to slip, I was a little on the retained. "

The 27-year-old Burkinabe won the competition ahead of Frenchman Jean-Marc Pontvianne (16.52m), all while lining up in the long jump two hours earlier.

In front of a few dozen curious people who waded their feet in the large puddles of the Brotillon stadium, he had improved his personal best in 7.71 m, to take up a technical challenge that his trainer Teddy Tamgho had thrown at him.

The French Jules Pommery (19), reigning European junior champion, won the length by improving his personal best (7.93 m, +0.8 m / s). The 2014 indoor world champion Eloyse Lesueur-Aymonin won with a jump to 6.26 m (+0.2 m / s).

© 2020 AFP