In the curious alchemy of athletics, gold is not necessarily gold, silver is silver, and bronze is bronze. All metal is not worth and cannot be exchanged. This is what we must remember from the European Championships which were held in Rome, from Friday June 7 to Wednesday June 12. The French team’s record is more than satisfactory: 16 medals including four gold, 5 silver and 7 bronze. But it is also flattering. And any transmutation of this continental harvest into Olympic promise would be the work of a sorcerer’s apprentice.
Without going back to Pierre de Coubertin or Alice Milliat, the Roman painting would once have augured a similar harvest at the Olympic Games. Except that Europe is no longer Europe. Or rather yes, the Europe of sport is consistent with geopolitical Europe, that is to say a continent whose place is contested on the international scene, no longer only by the United States but by multiple countries. Africa or Asia. So, passed through the sieve of times, lengths, heights achieved in Rome and compared to international tables, the medals can fade, sometimes to the point of becoming a knock in the Olympic retort.
This lesson on the relativity of metals, Romain Barras, with a title longer than a 10,000 m – director of high performance at the French Athletics Federation –, knows this well. In 2022 and 2023, he was responsible for endorsing the disastrous results of the French team after the world athletics championships in Eugene (a gold medal in the decathlon) then in Budapest (a silver medal, in the men’s 4 x 400 m relay). Never before had France suffered such a defeat since 1993.
So, Wednesday June 12, in Rome, Romain Barras was all smiles to comment on something other than a shortage. “This French team has character: it doesn’t give up, rejoiced the former decathlete. The athletes showed the best version of themselves. They built up their confidence before leaving for an Olympic campaign. »
New generation
He was particularly pleased with the emergence of a new generation of athletes, often under the age of 25, who still had room for improvement. Many broke their personal bests. Like Cyréna Samba-Mayela, 23 years old, gold medalist in the 100m hurdles, who twice beat the French record in Rome, with a time (12 s 31) which puts her at the top of the world record.
Another satisfaction, even a notch below, Louise Maraval, 22 years old, silver medal in 400 m hurdles (54 s 23) behind the untouchable Dutchwoman Femke Bol. Like Alexis Miellet, 29, who won in Rome what was only the fifth 3,000 meter steeplechase of his late career over this distance (8 min 14 sec 71), ahead of his compatriot Djilali Bedrani. Alice Finot, gold medal in the 3,000m steeplechase at already 33, was an exception. Women’s athletics, which was going through a low point, was, this time, a provider of medals equal to male athletes.
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