Athletics | Audrey Leduc strikes from the start

(Paris) Audrey Leduc made a big impact when she entered the scene at the Paris Olympic Games on Friday morning, in a Stade de France filled to capacity.

The Gatineau sprinter clocked 10.95 seconds in the 100 metres (+1.2 m/s), improving her own Canadian record by one hundredth. She won the fourth heat of the first round to advance to the semifinals on Saturday night.

“The goal was to come and feel the track, to really get the feeling of what it was like,” Leduc simply indicated a few minutes later. We had it on the practice track, it was fast, but there [c’était] to do it with the whole crowd, to experience it, to be even more ready for tomorrow.”

Having made an excellent start, the 25-year-old athlete broke away from her immediate lane neighbours, before catching up with the young Jamaican Tia Clayton (11.00), junior world champion in 2022.

The purple surface of the Stade de France, a new colour, certainly pleased the Quebecer, who is hungry for more.

In the combined eight starts of this first round, Leduc achieved the sixth time. In the final wave, the Ivorian Marie-Josée Talou-Smith (10.87) and the Jamaican Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (10.92), two of the main favorites, respectively registered the first and second times, without pushing until the end.

Britain’s Daryll Neita is third in 10.92, one thousandth of a second behind Fraser-Pryce, 37, who has won medals at the last four Olympics, on the straight. American Sha’carri Richardson (10.94), the reigning world champion, is fourth.

In her Olympic debut, Audrey Leduc said she was not impressed by the magnitude of the event and the presence of some 70,000 spectators. Her participation in the Indoor World Championships in the spring and the Diamond League competition in London, where she took part in a relay on July 20, served as preparation.

She explained that she did not feel any particular nervousness. “Not really. […] It seems like I was just ready. I was really looking forward to running. My last race [individuelle] was at the Canadian Championships [à la fin de juin]. »

Leduc surprised the track and field world by stopping the needle at 10.96 at a meet in Louisiana on April 20. She broke Angela Bailey’s national record of 10.98, which had stood since 1987.

What is she aiming for in the semi-finals and potentially the final on Saturday night? “Execute,” summarized the MBA student at Université Laval. The same thing [que vendredi] In fact. […] I experienced it today, so it’s only right to be able to do it again, but better.”

Leduc will also line up in the 200m and the 4 x100m relay in Paris.

Fourth in the first heat in 11.27, Jacqueline Madogo of Ottawa failed to qualify for the next round.

False start for CPT

Half an hour earlier, veteran Charles Philibert-Thiboutot had an entrance on stage that was the opposite of that of his Quebec teammate.

The Quebec runner finished 14th^e and second to last in his first round heat in the 1500m, which will force him to go through the repechage scheduled for Saturday evening. He had to rank among the top six to go directly to the semi-finals the following day.

“It’s definitely disappointing not to get through, but I executed perfectly,” Philibert-Thiboutot regretted a few minutes later. “I was top 3, top 4 throughout the race. If I had had the energy to stay in the top 6, I would have been top 6. My game plan was executed perfectly, but I missed a little thing this morning.”

Stuck behind a wall of competitors in the final straight, the 33-year-old Quebecer weakened when he needed to accelerate, which relegated him relatively far from the top six. His time of 3 min 36.92 left him nearly a second and a half behind the sixth place finisher.

“These are races where there are a lot of people and there were 12 or 15 of us within a second,” he analyzed. “In ten years on the international circuit, I’ve never seen that. There’s elbowing in the last 200 meters, we’re getting knocked around from one side and the other. Trying to stay relaxed and accelerate at the same time is a difficult task. I’m going to work on that for tomorrow.”

This repechage formula is a new feature at the Paris Games for the 200m to 1500m events. Rather than having an opportunity to qualify by time (lucky loser), athletes are entitled to a second chance.

“I would have preferred more people to come by [directement aux demi-finales]but I’m happy to have a second chance,” said Philibert-Thiboutot, eager to start his race back to calm in order to prepare for Saturday evening.

Norwegian Jakob Ingebrigsten, crowned in Tokyo, finished third in the third wave, without pushing too hard, to reach the semi-finals.