Ronald Pognon
Encyclopedia
Ronald Pognon is a French
sprint athlete. He originally specialized in the 200 metres
, but later shifted to the shorter sprint distances. He was formerly the European record holder for the 60 metres
indoors and is the first Frenchman to go under 10 seconds
at the 100 metres
.
, winning a silver medal in the 4 x 100 metres relay
. He also competed individually in the 200 metres
, without reaching the final. His personal best 200 m result at that time was 21.25 seconds, whereas his personal best 100 m result was 10.50 seconds. Two years later he had improved to 20.65 and 10.24 seconds respectively, and reached the 200 m semifinals at the 2002 European Championships
. At the 2002 European Championships he also finished fourth in 4 x 100 m relay with teammates David Patros
, Issa-Aimé Nthépé
and Jérôme Éyana
.
He then shifted focus to the 100 metres. He reached the semifinals in this event at both the 2003 World Championships
and the 2004 Olympic Games
. At the Olympics he also competed in the relay, but failed to reach the final with the French team. He lowered his personal best time to 10.13 seconds in 2003 and 10.11 in 2004, both times in the town Castres
.
, with 6.45 seconds on 2 March in Karlsruhe
. He won the silver medal in the same event at the 2005 European Indoor Championships.
He competed at the 2005 World Championships
in both 100
and 200 metres, but did not reach the final; however, in the 4 x 100 m relay
he won a gold medal together with teammates Ladji Doucouré
, Eddy De Lépine
and Lueyi Dovy
. He rounded off the season by finishing fifth in the 2005 World Athletics Final
. He also set personal best times in both 100 and 200 metres that season. 9.99 seconds in the Lausanne Super Grand Prix in July, and 20.27 seconds in the Rieti
Grand Prix in August. He became the first Frenchman to go under 10 seconds, and only four Europeans had run faster: Francis Obikwelu
(9.86), Linford Christie
(9.87), Dwain Chambers
(9.97) and Jason Gardener
(9.98).
In 2006 he finished sixth at the 2006 World Indoor Championships
, fourth at the 2006 European Championships and sixth at the 2006 World Athletics Final
, the latter in a season's best time of 10.10 seconds. At the European Championships he helped win a bronze medal in the relay, behind Great Britain and Poland, together with an entirely new team: Oudère Kankarafou
, Pognon, Fabrice Calligny
and David Alerte
. At the end of the season, Pognon was selected for the 2006 World Cup
, finishing fifth in the 100 metres.
. He had run the 60 metres in 6.55 seconds, better than the year before. However, during the outdoor season he did not compete. He returned to competition in 2008, running only 6.68 in the 60 m indoors but managing 10.13 seconds in July in Rethimno to qualify for the Olympic Games
in Beijing
. Competing in the 100 metres event
, he placed third in his heat behind Tyrone Edgar
and Darvis Patton
in a time of 10.26 seconds. He qualified for the second round in which he improved his time to 10.21 seconds; however, he was unable to qualify for the semi finals as he finished in fourth place. He did not participate in the 4 x 100 m relay
, although France did field a team.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
sprint athlete. He originally specialized in the 200 metres
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...
, but later shifted to the shorter sprint distances. He was formerly the European record holder for the 60 metres
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...
indoors and is the first Frenchman to go under 10 seconds
10-second barrier
The 10-second barrier is a term used in track and field athletics which refers to the physical and psychological barrier of completing the men's 100 metres sprint in under ten seconds...
at the 100 metres
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...
.
Early career
As a junior athlete he participated at the 2000 World Junior Championships2000 World Junior Championships in Athletics
The 2000 World Junior Championships in Athletics is the 2000 version of the World Junior Championships in Athletics. It was held in Santiago, Chile.-Men:-Women:-Medals table:...
, winning a silver medal in the 4 x 100 metres relay
4 x 100 metres relay
The 4 × 100 metres relay or sprint relay is an athletics track event run in lanes over one lap of the track with four runners completing 100 metres each. The first runners begin in the same stagger as for the individual 400 m race...
. He also competed individually in the 200 metres
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...
, without reaching the final. His personal best 200 m result at that time was 21.25 seconds, whereas his personal best 100 m result was 10.50 seconds. Two years later he had improved to 20.65 and 10.24 seconds respectively, and reached the 200 m semifinals at the 2002 European Championships
2002 European Championships in Athletics
The 18th European Athletics Championships were held from 6 August to 11 August 2002 in the Olympic Stadium of Munich, Germany.-Track:1994 |1998 |2002 |2006 |2010 |...
. At the 2002 European Championships he also finished fourth in 4 x 100 m relay with teammates David Patros
David Patros
David Patros is a retired French sprinter.He finished fifth in relay at the 2000 Summer Olympics, with teammates Frédéric Krantz, Christophe Cheval and Needy Guims...
, Issa-Aimé Nthépé
Issa-Aimé Nthépé
Issa-Aimé Nthépé is a French sprinter who specializes in the 100 metres. He switched nationality from his birth country Cameroon in 1999....
and Jérôme Éyana
Jérôme Éyana
Jérôme Éyana is a French sprinter who specializes in the 100 metres.At the 2002 European Championships he finished fourth in 4x100 m relay with teammates David Patros, Issa-Aimé Nthépé and Ronald Pognon...
.
He then shifted focus to the 100 metres. He reached the semifinals in this event at both the 2003 World Championships
2003 World Championships in Athletics
The 9th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held from 23 August to 31 August 2003 in the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis, France.-Track:...
and the 2004 Olympic Games
Athletics at the 2004 Summer Olympics - Men's 100 metres
The men's 100 metres was of one of 23 track events of the athletics at the 2004 Summer Olympics, in Athens. It was contested at the Athens Olympic Stadium, from August 21 to August 22, by a total of 84 sprinters from 63 nations....
. At the Olympics he also competed in the relay, but failed to reach the final with the French team. He lowered his personal best time to 10.13 seconds in 2003 and 10.11 in 2004, both times in the town Castres
Castres
Castres is a commune, and arrondissement capital in the Tarn department and Midi-Pyrénées region in southern France. It lies in the former French province of Languedoc....
.
Breakthrough
In 2005 he started the season by setting a French indoor record in the 60 metres60 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...
, with 6.45 seconds on 2 March in Karlsruhe
Karlsruhe
The City of Karlsruhe is a city in the southwest of Germany, in the state of Baden-Württemberg, located near the French-German border.Karlsruhe was founded in 1715 as Karlsruhe Palace, when Germany was a series of principalities and city states...
. He won the silver medal in the same event at the 2005 European Indoor Championships.
He competed at the 2005 World Championships
2005 World Championships in Athletics
The 10th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations , were held in the Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland , the site of the first IAAF World Championships in 1983. One theme of the 2005 championships was paralympic sports, some of...
in both 100
2005 World Championships in Athletics - Men's 100 metres
The men's 100 metres at the 2005 World Championships in Athletics was held at the Helsinki Olympic Stadium on August 6 and August 7.The top three runners in each of the initial 8 heats automatically qualified for the second round. The next ten fastest runners from across the heats also qualified...
and 200 metres, but did not reach the final; however, in the 4 x 100 m relay
2005 World Championships in Athletics - Men's 4 x 100 metres relay
The Men's 4 x 100 metres relay at the 2005 World Championships in Athletics was held at the Helsinki Olympic Stadium on August 12 and August 13. The United Kingdom just beat Jamaica and Australia to bronze medal position...
he won a gold medal together with teammates Ladji Doucouré
Ladji Doucouré
Ladji Doucouré is a French athlete of Malian and Senegalese descent. He was a football player and decathlete before specializing in hurdling.-Career:...
, Eddy De Lépine
Eddy De Lépine
Eddy De Lépine is a French sprinter. Together with Ladji Doucouré, Ronald Pognon, and Lueyi Dovy, he won a gold medal in 4 x 100 metres relay at the 2005 World Championships in Athletics....
and Lueyi Dovy
Lueyi Dovy
Lueyi Dovy is a French sprinter of Gabonese descent. Together with Ladji Doucouré, Ronald Pognon and Eddy De Lépine he won a gold medal in 4 x 100 metres relay at the 2005 World Championships in Athletics.-External links:...
. He rounded off the season by finishing fifth in the 2005 World Athletics Final
2005 IAAF World Athletics Final
The 3rd IAAF World Athletics Final was held at the Stade Louis II, in Monte Carlo, Monaco on September 9, and September 10, 2005.The hammer throw event for men and women had to take place in Szombathely, Hungary on September 3 as the Monaco stadium was not large enough to hold the event.- Medal...
. He also set personal best times in both 100 and 200 metres that season. 9.99 seconds in the Lausanne Super Grand Prix in July, and 20.27 seconds in the Rieti
Rieti
Rieti is a city and comune in Lazio, central Italy, with a population of c. 47,700. It is the capital of province of Rieti.The town centre rests on a small hilltop, commanding a wide plain at the southern edge of an ancient lake. The area is now the fertile basin of the Velino River...
Grand Prix in August. He became the first Frenchman to go under 10 seconds, and only four Europeans had run faster: Francis Obikwelu
Francis Obikwelu
Francis Obiorah Obikwelu, born 22 November 1978 in Nigeria and a Portuguese citizen since 2001, is a sprint athlete specializing in 100 metres and 200 metres. He holds the record for the fastest time in the 100 m set by a European competitor with a time of 9.86 seconds...
(9.86), Linford Christie
Linford Christie
Linford Cicero Christie OBE is a former sprinter from the United Kingdom. He is the only British man to have won gold medals in the 100 metres at all four major competitions open to British athletes: the Olympic Games, the World Championships, the European Championships and the Commonwealth Games...
(9.87), Dwain Chambers
Dwain Chambers
Dwain Anthony Chambers is an English sprinter of Afro-Caribbean descent. He has won medals on the international stage numerous times and is one of the fastest European sprinters in the history of recorded athletics. His primary event is the 100 metres sprint, in which he has the second...
(9.97) and Jason Gardener
Jason Gardener
Jason Carl Gardener is a retired British sprint athlete, and former World Indoor Champion. Gardener was educated at Beechen Cliff School and the City of Bath College, and went on to graduate from Bath Spa University.-Athletics career:Gardener started his career at the World Junior Championships in...
(9.98).
In 2006 he finished sixth at the 2006 World Indoor Championships
2006 IAAF World Indoor Championships
The 11th IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations was held in Moscow from March 10 to March 12, 2006 in the Olimpiyski Sport arena....
, fourth at the 2006 European Championships and sixth at the 2006 World Athletics Final
2006 IAAF World Athletics Final
The 4th IAAF World Athletics Final was held at the Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion in Stuttgart, Germany on September 9 and September 10, 2006.-Results:-External links:*...
, the latter in a season's best time of 10.10 seconds. At the European Championships he helped win a bronze medal in the relay, behind Great Britain and Poland, together with an entirely new team: Oudère Kankarafou
Oudéré Kankarafou
Oudéré Kankarafou is a French sprinter who specializes in the 100 metres.In the 4 x 100 metres relay event he won a bronze medal at the 2006 European Championships and finished seventh at the 2006 World Cup....
, Pognon, Fabrice Calligny
Fabrice Calligny
Fabrice Calligny is a French sprinter who specializes in the 100 metres.In the 4 x 100 metres relay event he won a silver medal at the 2000 World Junior Championships, a bronze medal at the 2006 European Championships and finished seventh at the 2006 World Cup.He competed individually at the 2001...
and David Alerte
David Alerte
David Alerte is a French sprinter who specializes in the 200 metres.At the 2006 European Championships in Gothenburg he finished seventh in the 200 metres and won a bronze medal in the 4 x 100 metres relay...
. At the end of the season, Pognon was selected for the 2006 World Cup
2006 IAAF World Cup
The 10th IAAF World Cup in Athletics was an international track and field sporting event, held under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, which took place on 16 and 17 September 2006 at the Olympic Stadium in Athens, Greece....
, finishing fifth in the 100 metres.
Past the zenith
The 2007 season saw Pognon win a bronze medal in 60 metres at the 2007 European Indoor Championships2007 European Indoor Championships in Athletics
The 29th European Athletics Indoor Championships were held in the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham, England, from Friday, 2 March to Sunday, 4 March 2007...
. He had run the 60 metres in 6.55 seconds, better than the year before. However, during the outdoor season he did not compete. He returned to competition in 2008, running only 6.68 in the 60 m indoors but managing 10.13 seconds in July in Rethimno to qualify for the Olympic Games
2008 Summer Olympics
The 2008 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, was a major international multi-sport event that took place in Beijing, China, from August 8 to August 24, 2008. A total of 11,028 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees competed in 28 sports and 302 events...
in Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
. Competing in the 100 metres event
Athletics at the 2008 Summer Olympics - Men's 100 metres
The following new world and Olympic records were set during this competition.-Qualification:Each National Olympic Committee was able to enter up to three entrants providing they had met the A standard in the qualifying period...
, he placed third in his heat behind Tyrone Edgar
Tyrone Edgar
Tyrone Damien Edgar is a sprinter from Great Britain who specializes in the 100 metres.Edgar went to junior college in Kansas, USA in 2003 where he ran an impressive wind assisted 10.04 at the Junior College Championships...
and Darvis Patton
Darvis Patton
Darvis "Doc" Darell Patton is an American sprint athlete. He was the US Champion and World silver medallist over 200 meters in 2003...
in a time of 10.26 seconds. He qualified for the second round in which he improved his time to 10.21 seconds; however, he was unable to qualify for the semi finals as he finished in fourth place. He did not participate in the 4 x 100 m relay
Athletics at the 2008 Summer Olympics - Men's 4x100 metre relay
The Men's 4 × 100 metre relay event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 21 and 22 August at the Beijing National Stadium.There were 16 NOCs competing at this event. These 16 NOCs were selected by the average of the two best marks at the qualifying period. Australia was 14th but withdrew and the...
, although France did field a team.
Personal bests
| Date | Event | Venue | Time (seconds) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 19 February 2005 | 50 metres 50 metres 50 metres is a sprint event in track and field. It is a championship event for indoor championships, normally dominated by the best outdoor 100 metres runners. At outdoor athletics competitions it is a rare distance, at least for senior athletes... |
Liévin Liévin Liévin is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in northern France.-Overview:The city of Liévin is an old mining city of Pas-de-Calais. Near Lens, this modest-sized city nevertheless has several nursery schools, schools, colleges, a university, a swimming pool, a city library, a cultural and... , France France The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France... |
5.67 |
| 13 February 2005 | 60 metres 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... |
Karlsruhe Karlsruhe The City of Karlsruhe is a city in the southwest of Germany, in the state of Baden-Württemberg, located near the French-German border.Karlsruhe was founded in 1715 as Karlsruhe Palace, when Germany was a series of principalities and city states... , 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... |
6.45 |
| 5 July 2005 | 100 metres 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... |
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... , Switzerland Switzerland Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition.... |
9.99 |
| 28 August 2005 | 200 metres 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... |
Rieti Rieti Rieti is a city and comune in Lazio, central Italy, with a population of c. 47,700. It is the capital of province of Rieti.The town centre rests on a small hilltop, commanding a wide plain at the southern edge of an ancient lake. The area is now the fertile basin of the Velino River... , Italy Italy Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and... |
20.27 |
- All information from IAAF Profile