Martinique-born Pognon heads French men's team to Worlds

Martinique-born French
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
Caribbean Net News Correspondent 

Wednesday, July 20, 2005

ANGERS, France:  Martinique-born Ronald Pognon, who recently became the first Frenchman to break the 10-second barrier when clocking 9.99 to win the Lausanne Super Grand Prix a week ago, has been named in strong French squad for next month's 10th IAAF World Championships in Helsinki, Finland. 

The squad was announced on Monday by the French Federation (FFA) and it also includes European 100m record holder Christine Arron and star hurdler Ladji Doucouré. 

Already producing the IAAF A-standard for the 100-metres on his way to defeating American sprint double and Olympic champion Justin Gatlin, Pognon opted to run the 200m at the French Championships on the weekend. The 22-year-old showed that he was just as good in the half lap event as well by generating three impressive performances to earn himself an A-standard for Worlds.

Pognon started the competition with a personal best clocking of 20.38 seconds in the first round, and then clocking 20.40 in the semi-finals, before taking the finals with a new personal best time of 20.34.

"I ran three easy races, with a fast first 120m and trying to maintain speed, relax, Pognon stated after winning the men's 200m on Saturday. 

After the race Pognon said he also would have loved to break the national record as well but the preparation time between the semis and the finals did not help him. 

The French star is joint seventh in the 100m on the 2005 IAAF performance top list with his 9.99, however, he said he wants to compete in both sprint events at this World Championships, which kicks off early next month. 

Pognon has been in form all indoor season, clocking 12-times below the 6.60seconds mark in the 60m, while finishing on top of the world with a French and European record time of 6.45, his best performance at any level in his career. 

The World Championships is set for August 6 through 14 and Pognon awaits the show-down between himself, the Americans and Jamaica's world record holder Asafa Powell.

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