Martinique-born Ronald Pognon takes European Cup 100m

Star sprinter Ronald Pognon on his way to victory in
the men's 100m at the SPAR European Cup in Florence,
Italy on Saturday June 18. (Photo by Idalena Francos/
Freelance/Sporting-King)

by Gary Smith
for Caribbean Net News

Monday, June 20, 2005

FLORENCE, Italy:  Martinique-born French sprinter Ronald Pognon came back from a one month layoff, following a strained leg muscle injury, to win the men’s 100m on the second day of the SPAR European Cup in Florence, Italy on Saturday June 18.

Pognon, 22, clocked 10.02 (+2.1m/s) to beat Britain’s Olympic gold medallist and former World junior 100m champion Mark Lewis-Francis at 10.10. Italy’s Simone Collio finished third in 10.15.

"The track was very fast and this helped me to run very fast and set my new personal best,” Pognon said after holding off a surging Lewis-Francis.

Pognon also helped France to a bronze medal in the 4x100 relay. Olympic champions Great Britain won the race in a time of 38.67 edging out Italy (38.69) and France (38.78).

"We did not feel the pressure because our win was crucial to avoid the relegation of Great Britain," said Jason Gardener, who ran the lead off leg for the British team. "We are pleased with the win," he added.

Pognon will run his next race in Paris on July 1 and he said the French record is within his reach.

The leg injury sustained by the European Indoor record holder over 60 metres, affected his bid to win the 100-metres at this year’s World Championships in Athletics in Helsinki, Finland this summer. Pognon missed a couple of big meets including the clash with world-record holder Asafa Powell of Jamaica in Ostrava.

Earlier this year Pognon's coach, Guy Ontanon, said that the youngster’s injury was mainly because he has been pushing himself too hard. His main goal was to compete in meets where there were Americans in order to ensure he would be in contention for glory at the World Championships in Helsinki this summer.

"I’ve become more professional, thanks to working in the training group with Arron and Hurtis,” Pognon said, leading up to the time of breaking the European Indoor 60m record.

Pognon’s training group member, Christine Arron, also of France, ran away with the women’s race after clocking 11.10 in her second dash of the season.

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