Zhoya will remember the day of his 20th birthday: for what was only his fifth 110m hurdles in seniors, the Franco-Australian hurdler flew over the final of the French Championships in 13 sec 17 on Saturday on the track of the Hélitas stadium in Caen. .

At the end, a first title of national champion and especially the rank of sixth best performer in the world of the season, and best European.

This amazing time takes the junior world champion and world record holder in the age category into another dimension.

"By doing a performance like that, he would have been in the final of the Olympics last year. And if he hadn't been on the box, he wouldn't have been far from it," said Dimitri Demonière, who trains him with Ladji Doucouré at Insep.

His 13 sec 17 would indeed have earned Zhoya sixth place in the 110m hurdles final in Tokyo.

One hundredth behind the current French leader in the discipline, Pascal Martinot-Lagarde.

Seven hundredths from the podium, and thirteen from Olympic gold (Parchment in 13.04).

Knee to watch

On the Normandy track, the young athlete born in Perth, in Western Australia, and licensed in Clermont-Ferrand, put on a brutal boost, just a month after his first strides as seniors - where the hurdles no longer measure 99 cm but 1.06 m.

In Grosseto (Italy) on May 22, Zhoya, cramped, only completed his first outing after 14 seconds (14.13).

Three weeks later in Geneva (Switzerland), he ran in 13 sec 48. Then a little faster, in 13 sec 40, mid-June in Paris.

In one afternoon in Caen, he improved his personal best by more than two tenths, with 13 sec 24 in the series first, then 13 sec 17 in the final.

Sasha Zhoya explodes with joy by winning the 100m hurdles final of the French Championships, June 25, 2022 Sameer Al-DOUMY AFP / Archives

"Indeed, it's going relatively fast, Demonière agrees. It's good chronometrically speaking, he takes out the race when necessary (it was his last opportunity to run the minima for Eugene, editor's note), it's a little more solid. There are still some faults, but in general the race is satisfactory."

To watch however, the knee of Zhoya, under anti-inflammatories and which must undergo an infiltration in the week for a crack of the meniscus which occurred a fortnight ago in Geneva, when "he made a movement to avoid a judge after a hurdle during the warm-up".

"Under 13 sec" in a year?

What about the expectations that will arise from his performance?

"It was already like that with the cadet and junior years. Now that I have done a little chrono on the size (of hedges) seniors, it will make the same type of expectations", he believes.

"Sasha is a nugget, which must be prepared, preserved, protected" but "he lives well with that, and we are also here to absorb", explains his trainer.

"I think it's an important component in his personal motivation, that he feels transcended. In fact, he's another person, not quite the same Sasha when we're in competition: he knows how to climb a notch, that's also what makes the difference," he continues.

The prodigy Sasha Zhoya wins the 100m hurdles at the French Championships in Caen, June 25, 2022 Sameer Al-DOUMY AFP / Archives

Before the Eugene Worlds, for which the French selection is expected on Wednesday afternoon, we should not see Zhoya again in the starting blocks.

"Given what he did (in Caen), we can be reassured about the work that has been done, about his level of form, and get into preparation mode for the Worlds", projects Demonière.

Beyond that, when asked about the areas of progress of his student, the technician evokes "physical strength, pure speed, and the technical side still very perfectible despite the performance" of the weekend.

Zhoya, he would see himself well under 13 seconds "with a year older in his legs".

© 2022 AFP