• The final of the 110m hurdles of the Tokyo Olympics was won this Thursday morning by the Jamaican Hansle Parchment, in front of the great American favorite Grant Holloway, who missed himself a bit.

  • No medal for the two French competitors, Pascal Martinot-Lagarde and Aurel Manga, who finished 5th and 8th respectively.

  • Disappointed on arrival, however, they had no regrets, having approached the Games in an uncertain state of form.

From our special correspondent in Tokyo,

It still does not want to smile for the French athletes in these Games. While waiting to see where Kevin Mayer ends in the decathlon, later in the day, the 110m hurdles final could have given rise to a nice surprise. But neither Pascal Martinot-Large (5th) nor Aurel Manga (8th) managed to hang the box. Pascal Martinot-Large, however, had his best time of the season (13'16), which, by the way, could have offered him the money in Rio rather than a 4th place. But that's not how it works.

"I am very disappointed but I have no regrets," said PML, not spared by the syndrome which affects all the hopes of the French athlete for a medal at these Games, namely to arrive on a D-day without being at the top.

“I didn't have much hope when I came here.

I had a chaotic preparation, I only really trained for the last two weeks.

Before that, it was just DIY, ”he says.

🇯🇲 Hansle Parchment created a sensation by beating Grant Holloway in the 110m hurdles final.

Ronald Levy completes the podium.



🇫🇷 Pascal Martinot-Lagarde and Aurel Manga finish 5th and 8th respectively # Tokyo2020



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- francetvsport (@francetvsport) August 5, 2021

Affected with ischios at the start of the year, and with the adductor a little later, PML certainly had no benchmarks but not zero ambition.

“It wouldn't be me,” said the 2018 European champion. When I do 13'25 in the halfs quite easily, I said to myself that there was something to look for.

Today [Thursday] is a full race, I deposited everything I had, but it was not enough.

"

"Something huge for me"

For Aurel Manga, author of his personal best in the previous round (13'24), everything got complicated from the shot.

“Yes, it was a difficult start, half on the ground… I would even say burst on the ground, debriefs the 29-year-old screamer without losing his big smile.

I wanted to deliver everything, maybe I delivered a little too much.

"

He too has had a hard time in recent months, including a month of April which "could have mortgaged this season", between injury and a busy personal schedule (moving, job interviews).

So he relishes having participated in his first Olympic final: “Very few people saw me there, so today I'm proud.

This is something huge for me.

"

"This jersey will bring back an Olympic medal"

The Parisian believes "to have passed a course", which will help him in the perspective of Paris.

Martinot-Largarde is no longer there, but he is also already thinking about the next Olympics.

World and European medalist, outdoors and indoors, he will not give up before having his Olympic podium.

Even if he knows he will have to deal with a body that creaks all over the place.

“Complete preparation would lead me to a calm championship, that's for sure.

But I am convinced that a preparation that we call normal will no longer exist for me.

At 29, I accumulate hundreds of thousands of downforce, I have passed tens of thousands of hurdles… I'm going to have to tinker with my old carcass.

But that's fine with me, because my old carcass, it takes you 5th today.

This jersey, one day, he will bring back an Olympic medal.

As some would say, that's all we want him to do.

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