Deprived of duels on official jumps, world leaders in pole vaulting - and the International Athletics Federation - found a makeshift solution. Renaud Lavillenie and Armand Duplantis, who stole the pole vault world record (6.18 m) from the Frenchman this winter, competed in an original format competition which they tied for first on Sunday May 3, each from their own garden, in the United States or France.

This "Ultimate Garden Clash", an ersatz sports competition in confinement time, and broadcast live on social networks by the International Athletics Federation (World Athletics), also saw the double American world champion Sam Kendricks win the bronze .

Unable to compete in a classic format, given the health conditions linked to the global coronavirus epidemic and the very different material conditions in which they jumped, the three athletes had agreed on a new objective: to exceed the maximum bars 5 m high in 30 minutes.

Success on the Web

Lavillenie and Duplantis both completed 36 jumps, each with a single failure, and Kendricks, 26. In a certain confusion, the production proposed a 3-minute tie-break, which Lavillenie, face tired, refused as Duplantis, visibly less experienced, left for an additional jump.

"Succeeding 36 jumps at 5 m in 30 minutes, I challenge anyone on this planet to do the same, it's huge," said Kendricks, still breathless. At the height of the challenge, the live brought together a total of more than 20,000 simultaneous spectators but in total, the video of the competition had hundreds of thousands of views Sunday evening on its various media.

Everyone started on a personal long necklace: Lavillenie in his garden in Pérignat-lès-Sarliève (central France) with his daughter Iris on the swing in the background, Kendricks on a modern long necklace on his parents' farm in Louisiana (United States) and Armand Duplantis on the old long necklace where he started, at the age of three, in his parents' garden, in Mississippi (United States).

Aged 20, the young prodigy jumped quickly, with no apparent effort. Lavillenie, 33, was meticulous, stopping between each jump to drink, mop his forehead and repoudre hands, while Kendricks, whose runway was much longer, adopted a rhythm more careful, taking the time to sit down to catch his breath.

"We were all in need"

"Paradoxically, I found most of the preparation for competition," testified Lavillenie, who had expressed in recent weeks his difficulty training while the Covid-19 epidemic caused the postponement of major meetings you this year, Olympic Games in mind.

"None of us wanted to lose ... It was very intense," he added during a short press conference by videoconference after the challenge. "My goal was to make one jump per minute, but it took a little more to go for the win. It's a mixed effort between technique and endurance. I wouldn't do that every weekends, but it was cool. "

Armand Duplantis also explained that he enthusiastically accepted the initiative of his French elder: "I live from the competition, we were all in need". But he is not in favor of the idea of ​​introducing this competition format in a stadium: "It was nice, but I want to jump high, higher".

A first that could bring others

The president of the international athletics federation, Sebastian Coe, followed the competition on the Internet and congratulated the three athletes for "this great initiative, really nice and innovative". He also thanked their relatives for helping, by keeping the counters or managing the cameras, "to bring back live athletics during confinement".

"I hope we can offer a few more competitions like this for all athletic fans around the world," he added. These new challenges could involve other pole vaulters, men or women, and other disciplines.

At the same time, Lavillenie and Duplantis must "meet" on June 11 for another original distance competition, organized at the place of the Oslo meeting. The Swede will jump into the legendary Bislett stadium in Oslo (Norway), without any audience, against the local Sondre Guttormsen, while the French must compete once again from home.

With AFP

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