It is with satisfaction that wheelchair athlete Alexandre Dupont concluded his four-day series of races in Switzerland. Sunday, at the Daniela-Jutzeler meeting presented in Nottwil, the Quebecer finished fifth in the 1500 m (T53-T54) and sixth in the 800 m (T54).
Posted at 3:55 p.m.
“Honestly, I rode better than I expected. Yes, I’m disappointed with some business, but I still can’t complain too much, because it was still good, “revealed the one whose last international competition before this European series dates back to the World Championships in November. 2019.
The Clarenceville athlete completed the 1500m in a time of 2 minutes 57.21 seconds.
“I’m less than a second from the winner [le Suisse Marcel Hug]. It rode well, I had a good final sprint and I didn’t run out of juice at the end. If we had to do another lap at the same pace, I would have done it with no problem. It was a great race! I would do races like this all the time! »
Earlier in the day, in the 800m T54, the Quebecer once again witnessed a European record signed by Hug (1 min 29.77 s) as was the case Thursday at the IPC Grand Prix, while the quadruple Paralympic champion of the Tokyo Games had lowered the European mark with his time of 1 min 29.91 s at the Nottwil Grand Prix, an event where Dupont had taken fifth place (1 min 34.99 s). On Sunday, Dupont finished sixth (1 min 37.79 s).
“Strategically, I played my race badly. I had a good start, but there was someone in front of me who ran out of juice and caused me to lose the lead group. So I had to do almost the whole race on my own. I tried to catch up with the first, but I was not able”, maintained Dupont.
Lee Leclerc, of Saint-Paul, also took part in two races on Sunday. He ranked seventh in the 800m T34, an event where his compatriot Austin Smeenk (1 min 50.16 s) finished just off the podium.
Leclerc’s other race was the T54 100m and he finished ninth due to his time of 17.47 seconds.
Samuel Larouche (53.84 s), from Jonquière, was the fifth and last to cross the finish line in the 200m T51 won by Finn Toni Piispanen in a time of 38.30 seconds.
Alexandre Dupont will try to defend his Commonwealth Games title in the 1500 meters this summer in Birmingham.
Charles Philibert-Thiboutot back in the Diamond League
Saturday, at the Prefontaine Classic meeting in Eugene (Oregon) counting for the Diamond League, Charles Philibert-Thiboutot ranked ninth in the Mile in a time of 3 min 53.82 s. The Quebec runner finished just behind his compatriot William Paulson in this race where the Olympic champion in the 1500 m, the Norwegian Jakob Ingebrigtsen (3 min 49.76 s) won.