"My real objective, achievable, without hiding the face, it is second behind Duplantis", confessed the 35-year-old Frenchman, former regent of the world pole vault.
"If I come second behind +Mondo+ I will be the first winner, it will be my victory. The hierarchy is like that. To have seen his competitions you have to be able to jump 6.10 m to put him in doubt. I have no the level for that this summer", detailed the former world record holder (6.16 m) and 2012 Olympic champion during a press briefing.
"But I never came to a competition to be 2nd. Even when you are the best, anything can happen. Mondo is human, a failure is possible, even if he is almost unbeatable on a regular basis", nuanced Lavillenie who has already won four medals (three titles) in five participations in the competition.
In 2018, he finished 3rd in a legendary competition won by Duplantis at 6.05m, for the international advent of the Swede, who has since been crowned Olympic champion, then world champion last month in Eugene (United States). United) with a new world record (6.21 m).
Lavillenie took 5th place in the American competition with a jump of 5.87 m.
Since then, he has competed in two competitions: a zero in the rain in Chorzow (Poland) on August 6 and then a 2nd place in Székesfehérvár in Hungary behind Duplantis two days later.
"Eugene's return was hard, between the trip and the jet lag. Then for a week I wasn't very efficient. But I got back into it with these two competitions and I arrive in Munich with better feelings. than in Eugene. I'm getting in shape I can feel it. I have the podium not far away", hoped the pole vaulter 3rd in European balance sheets in 2022.
© 2022 AFP