These are two monuments in peril. In the muggy heat of Sapporo, in northern Japan, on the island of Hokkaïdo, Yohann Diniz and the 50 km walk event jointly bowed out. For the French, world record holder, it was his last race at the highest level. The ultimate chance to obtain the Olympic medal which is lacking in its record. Weary, annoyed by gastric problems from the start of his effort, he gave up after more than two hours and after doing the yoyo with the leading pack several times.
For this discipline – the most trying in athletics – it was also the last one, which was won by the Pole Dawid Tomala, followed by the German Jonathan Hilbert and the Canadian Evan Dunfee. It will disappear from the Olympic program – we do not yet know with precision the replacement event -, and even that of the world championships, where it will be replaced next year by a 35 km.
“The competition too many”
Diniz was frank and direct after his retirement: “It was too much competition. Between operations and injuries for the past two years, I may have stuck to an Olympiad when I could have finished on the highest step in London [champion du monde en 2017]. Unfortunately, I did not finish as I would have hoped… ”
?❌ This time, it’s over for Yohann Diniz who sits on the side of the road! ? His Olympic adventure and… https://t.co/1hXR96TA98
Friday, August 6, in the early morning – the start was given at 5.30 a.m. (Japanese time) to alleviate the harsh weather conditions – Yohann Diniz blew hot and cold. Having started in front, he first made a passage to the toilets, then after setting off again just in front of the peloton, he stopped. He then left and made up for lost time, returning to the leading group. A few minutes later, he again stopped his effort to refuel.
Rejected 15 seconds from the first, he again stopped in front of the French team, discussing and even turning his back to the direction of travel. Encouraged, he resumed, before giving up before the thirtieth kilometer. Sitting on a sidewalk with his head in his hands, Diniz realized his Olympic dream was flying away. “I already had no freshness, I was already physically exhausted. I had pain in the adductors, in the pelvis and I suffered the bitumen, he explained. Normally I stroke the ground. I got stuck physically. ”
Its history with the Olympics has been a long litany of missed dates. In 2008, in Beijing, he gave up after the thirtieth kilometer. In 2012, he finished 8e in London, despite a crash and failure, but was disqualified after the race. In Rio, in 2016, he had come to the end of himself, despite gastric disorders that had led him to the hospital once the finish line had been crossed. in eighth position.
“I am especially disappointed for the others, I will be able to get over it, Diniz concluded. Maybe I should have said “we stop” when the Games were postponed. I no longer have full possession of my physical means like three or four years ago. It took me this race to realize it. ”
“Double motivation”
The Champenois also remained on a failure during the Doha Worlds in 2019. In Qatar, unprepared by his admission, he had given up early, annoyed by the stifling heat of the Gulf. All these misfortunes had motivated him to extend the adventure and to try, at 43, to afford a successful trip to Japan.
“It creates a double motivation because I want to give myself as many chances as possible to finish on a good note. I’m not putting pressure on myself by talking about the podium. It’s more the desire to enjoy my last race, he told the World before the Olympics. When I take the start of this 50 km, it will be the last. We will try not to spoil the party. “
World gold medalist in 2017, the walker will be one of those champions who never managed to shine at the Olympic Games. Before knowing this unfortunate outcome, he did not make a drama of it: “In Rio, it could have been my last. I had been the victim of a failure but I had gone to the end of what I could give. If it had to end there, I would have been proud of what I had accomplished, he confided. There are champions who did not have an Olympic medal. “
He hoped so beforehand: ” If I [n’]don’t have [la médaille olympique], I will not end up bitter. On the other hand, I don’t want to waste the opportunity. I’m getting ready to play a card. I don’t go there as a tourist, not like in Doha. ”
An unpredictable ordeal
To erase the bad Qatari memory, Diniz had prepared in Portugal, in a small village near Coimbra. In collaboration with engineers from the local university and researchers from the National Sports Institute, he spent “More than 80 days in a thermal chamber doing training in condition”.
?? Yohann Diniz stopped on the side of the road! Encouraged by his coaches, he has just resumed his work … https://t.co/Oi6cU8dDiP
The walker was aware of the unpredictability of his heart test: “You can’t predict so much for the 50 kilometers. There are a lot of things that are even more random than usual. I try to be as careful as possible. I prepare to face hostile conditions, hot and humid climate. ” In Sapporo, he doesn’t think he suffered particularly from the weather: “I wasn’t a victim of the heat and humidity more than that. I had worked it well. Maybe I did too much elastic at the start. “
This unfortunate outcome of one of “his bosses” is added to the very average record of French athletics during these Olympic Games. Far from the six medals of Rio, the French federation will have – barring an unexpected surprise by Sunday – to be satisfied with a single medal in Japan, that in silver from Kevin Mayer, won Thursday in the decathlon. A record that would bring the Blues back to the beginning of the millennium: between the Athens Olympics in 2004 (two bronze medals) and those of Sydney in 2000 (no medal).