and Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 in a time of 38.11 s. At the IAAF world challenge meet in Reiti, Italy on the 29th of August Lemaitre competed in the 100 m, equalling his personal best in his heat with a 9.98, and improving upon it in the final with a run of 9.97 seconds with a reaction of 0.199.

2011

During the 2011 European Athletics Indoor Championships

2011 European Athletics Indoor Championships

The 31st European Athletics Indoor Championships were held at the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy in Paris, France, from 4 to 6 March 2011.A record high of 630 athletes, representing 46 countries, were entered into the three-day competition. Twenty-six track and field events were contested at the...

 Christophe Lemaitre was fastest during the early heats of the 60m sprint event. He also had the fastest time in the semi-final, but he finished in third place taking a bronze during the final.

On June 7, at the first Meet of the Pro Athlé Tour in Montreuil

Montreuil, Seine-Saint-Denis

Montreuil is a commune in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris. It is the third most populous suburb of Paris...

, he broke his own national record with a time of 9.96. On June 18, he went on to again lower his National record, clocking a time of 9.95 at the European Team Championships in Stockholm

Stockholm

Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...

, Sweden

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

. On June 30, he matched his national record with a time of 9.95 in Lausanne

Lausanne

Lausanne is a city in Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland, and is the capital of the canton of Vaud. The seat of the district of Lausanne, the city is situated on the shores of Lake Geneva . It faces the French town of Évian-les-Bains, with the Jura mountains to its north-west...

. On July 29, he again lowered the French national record in Albi with a time of 9.92 s with a wind aid of 2.0 m/s. In this race he became the second fastest sprinter of non-west African descent (after Frankie Fredericks

Frankie Fredericks

Frank Fredericks is a former athlete from Namibia. Running in the 100 metres and 200 metres, he won four silver medals at the Olympic Games , making him Namibia's first and so far only Olympic medalist...

), by surpassing the Patrick Johnson

Patrick Johnson (sprinter)

Patrick Johnson is an Australian athlete. He is the current Oceanian and Australian record holder in the 100 metres with a time of 9.93 seconds, achieved in Mito, Japan, on 5 May 2003. The time has made him the 17th fastest man in history at the time and 38th man to crack the 10-second barrier...

 personal best time of 9.93.

On 30 July, he broke another French record at the 200 meters, but it did not count as the wind was 2.3 m/s, which is 0.3 m/s over the limit. During the 2011 World Championships in Athletics

2011 World Championships in Athletics

The 13th IAAF World Championships in Athletics was an international athletics competition that was held in Daegu, South Korea. It started on 27 August 2011 and finished on 4 September 2011....

 in Daegu

Daegu

Daegu , also known as Taegu, and officially the Daegu Metropolitan City, is a city in South Korea, the fourth largest after Seoul, Busan, and Incheon, and the third largest metropolitan area in the country with over 2.5 million residents. The city is the capital and principal city of the...

, Lemaitre reached the finals of the 100m sprint event, finishing fourth. On September 3, he won the bronze medal of the 200m final, beating his personal record with a time of 19.80 with a wind aid of 0.8 m/s, as well as pulverizing the previous French national record he shared with Gilles Quénéhervé

Gilles Quénéhervé

Gilles Quénéhervé is a retired French sprinter who specialized in the 200 metres.-Biography:At the 1987 World Championships in Rome he won the silver medal in a time of 20.16, which still stood as a French record for 21 years until it was broken by Christophe Lemaitre at the 2011 World...

, 20.16s, by 0.36 seconds.. In the race he became the second fastest European 200m sprinter in history after Pietro Mennea

Pietro Mennea

Pietro Paolo Mennea is an Italian former sprinter and politician, who was the 1980 Moscow Olympic 200 meter Champion, and also held the 200 m world record for 17 years.-Biography:...

. On September 4, Lemaitre alongside Jimmy Vicaut

Jimmy Vicaut

Jimmy Vicaut is a French sprinter, who specialises in the 100 and 200 metres. He won the bronze medal at the 2010 World Junior Championships in Athletics in Moncton, Canada and promptly travelled to Barcelona to help the French men's 4×100 metres relay team to the gold medal at the 2010 European...

, Teddy Tinmar

Teddy Tinmar

Teddy Tinmar is a French sprinter, who specialises in the 100 and 200 metres. He helped the French men's 4×100 metres relay team to win a silver medal at the 2011 World Championships.-Personal best:-External links:*FFA profile for...

 and Yannick Lesourd

Yannick Lesourd

Yannick Lesourd is a track and field sprint athlete who competes internationally for France.Lesourd represented France at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. He competed at the 4x100 metres relay together with Martial Mbandjock, Manuel Reynaert and Samuel Coco-Viloin...

, ran a season best of 38.20s, finishing second behind a world record-breaking Jamaica and thus taking the silver medal.

Recognition

Christophe Lemaitre was the winner of the 2010 men's European Athlete of the Year Award. He has also been named the 2010 French Sportsman of the Year by sports daily L'Equipe. After he broke the ten seconds mark, Paris sports newspaper L'Équipe

L'Équipe

L'Équipe is a French nationwide daily newspaper devoted to sports, owned by Éditions Philippe Amaury. The paper is noted for coverage of football , rugby, motorsports and cycling...

 put him on the front page, even though the Tour de France was taking place. During his European champions treble winning year, Christophe Lemaitre ran faster than the former world record-holder Asafa Powell

Asafa Powell

Asafa Powell C.D is a Jamaican sprinter who specialises in the 100 metres. He held the 100 m world record between June 2005 and May 2008, with times of 9.77 and 9.74 seconds respectively. Powell has consistently broken the 10-second barrier in competition, with his personal best of...

 and the former double world champion Tyson Gay

Tyson Gay

Tyson Gay is an American track and field sprinter. His primary events are the 100 meters and 200 meters. His personal bests establish him as the second fastest athlete in the 100 meters and the fifth fastest athlete in the history of the 200 meters, with times of 9.69 and...

 did at his age. He took second place in the 2011 European athlete of the year awards.

Personal bests

Event	Time	Wind	Venue	Date	Ref
60 m 60 metres 60 metres is a sprint event in track and field athletics. It is a championship event for indoor championships, normally dominated by the best outdoor 100 metres runners. At outdoor venues it is a rare distance, at least for senior athletes...	6.55		Aubière Aubière Aubière is a commune in the Puy-de-Dôme department in Auvergne in central France.-References:*...	13 February 2010
100 m 100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-metre dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, it is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896...	9.92 NR French records in athletics The following are the national records in athletics in France maintained by France's national athletics federation – Fédération française d'athlétisme .- Men :- Women :- Men :- Women :+ = en route to a longer distance...	+2.0 m/s	Albi	29 July 2011
200 m 200 metres A 200 metres race is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 m track, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques are needed to successfully run the race. A slightly shorter race, called the stadion and run on a straight track, was the first...	19.80 NR French records in athletics The following are the national records in athletics in France maintained by France's national athletics federation – Fédération française d'athlétisme .- Men :- Women :- Men :- Women :+ = en route to a longer distance...	+0.8 m/s	Daegu Daegu Daegu , also known as Taegu, and officially the Daegu Metropolitan City, is a city in South Korea, the fourth largest after Seoul, Busan, and Incheon, and the third largest metropolitan area in the country with over 2.5 million residents. The city is the capital and principal city of the...	3 September 2011

Key: NR = National record

External links

• French Athletics Federation profile of Christophe Lemaitre