Raised like a cuckoo, Sasha Zhoya was impatiently awaiting the first senior 110m hurdles of his career, after having crushed the junior years like no one before him (world champion and world record holder in 12 sec 72), on hurdle races more small (99 cm against 106 cm in seniors).

But in this small town in southern Tuscany, crushed by the sun, the 19-year-old Franco-Australian was disillusioned, victim of cramps in both calves during his last warm-up starts just before his series.

Then he completely missed his race, interrupted by numerous hurdles which almost pushed him to a stop twice, for a final time very far from the high level (14 sec 13, -0.1 m/s of wind), in front of the few enthusiasts who filled the stand of the Carlo-Zecchini stadium, built for the Rome Games in 1960.

In question: the temperature, a very long warm-up (1h30) and a lack of mineral salts, according to his trainer Ladji Doucouré.

Furious, the Franco-Australian tore his outfit in rage before slipping away and cutting off his phone.

He left the stadium without taking part in the final two hours later, for which he was still qualified, feeling that his cramps had "settled".

"Not a whim"

"It's his age. Me at 19 I was the same, cleared him with AFP Ladji Doucouré. The difference is that other 19-year-old athletes do not have access to this kind of competitions. Yes, at 19 you can still do that, it's not the whim of a spoiled child. The spoiled child wouldn't have raced. I told him not to race just before the start. He wanted to do it anyway."

"His plan was to be clean and competitive. He wanted to do well from the start, for people to say + oh look how beautiful +. That's why he's frustrated to show a disgusting race" , added the 2005 world champion.

"It shows that he is learning. The delivery date is in two years (for Paris-2024), all that is construction. We will quickly forget this day, we know that it's going going well, and that's not arrogance. I'm not worried, I can tell you he's eaten a lot of hurdles this year."

Scheduled in Chrozow (Poland) on June 5, Zhoya could appeal next week.

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© 2022 AFP