Ladji Doucouré of France wins the 110m Hurdles in Paris Golden League (© Getty Images)
The French Federation (FFA) announced yesterday a pre-selection of 48 athletes who have been granted their participation at the IAAF World Championships in Helsinki.
The men’s team will be led by sprinter Ronald Pognon and hurdler Ladji Doucouré who have recently set national records in the 100m and 110m Hurdles respectively.
Pognon became the first French man to break the 10-second barrier when clocking 9.99 to win the Lausanne Super Grand Prix while Doucouré who had taken his own national record down to 13.02 at the Paris Golden League meeting when defeating World champion Allen Johnson and Olympic champion Liu Xiang, broke the 13-second barrier with a 12.97 win at the French national championships last weekend.
The women’s team will have yet again sprinter Christine Arron and heptathlete Eunice Barber as their leaders.
A Golden League Jackpot contender Arron has a season’s best of 10.94, her best performance since her 10.73 European record set back in 1998, while Barber is the current World leader for combined events with her 6889 points win from the Arles IAAF Combined Events meeting.
France will be aiming at improving on the excellent tally of 3 gold, 2 silver and 3 bronze medals won at the Paris 2003 World Championships where Barber, Arron and the women’s 4x100m had been the stars of the Championships.
The French Federation is likely to add a few more names to its list of participants to the World Championships when the official team announcement will be made on 27 July.
French team
Men
100m, 200m, 4x100m: Ronald Pognon
200m, 4x100m, 4x400m: David Alerte
1500m: Medhi Baala
1500m: Mounir Yemmouni (tbc)
3000m Steeplechase: Bouabdellah Tahri
3000m Steeplechase: Vincent Le Dauphin (tbc)
3000m Steeplechase: Gael Pencreach
50km Walk: Yohan Diniz
50km Walk: Denis Langlois
110m Hurdles, 4x100m: Ladji Doucouré
110m Hurdles: Cédric Lavanne
400m Hurdles, 4x400m: Naman Keita
Long Jump: Salim Sdiri
Pole Vault: Jean Galfione
Pole Vault: Damiel Dossevi
Triple Jump: Karl Taillepierre
Triple Jump: Colomba Fofana (tbc)
Decathlon: Romain Barras
Decathlon: Laurent Hernu
Women
100m, 200m, 4x100m: Christine Arron
100m: Sylviane Félix
400m: Solen Désert
800m: Laetitia Valdonado
1500m: Hind Dehiba
1500m: Bouchra Ghezielle
3000m Steeplechase: Elodie Olivares
3000m Steeplechase: Yamina Bouchaouante
100m Hurdles, 4x100m: Linda Khodadin
100m Hurdles: Reina-Flor Okori
100m Hurdles: Adriana Lamalle
Pole Vault: Vanessa Boslak
High Jump: Mélanie Skotnik
Hammer Throw: Manuela Montebrun
Heptathlon, Long Jump: Eunice Barber
Heptathlon: Marie Collonvillé
Teams
Men’s Marathon: Hakim Bagy, Ahmed Ezzobayry, David Ramard, Ismail Sghyr
Women’s 4x100m: Patricia Buval, Lina Jacques-Sébastien, Carima Louami, Véronique Mang
Men’s 4x100m: Eddy De Lépine, Lueyi Dovy, Oudére Kankarafou
Men’s 4x400m: Leslie Dhjone, Abdelharim El Haouzy, Grégory Kiavue, Marc Raquil
