Axel Chapelle (; born 24 April 1995) is a French

pole vault Pole vaulting, also known as pole jumping, is a track and field event in which an athlete uses a long and flexible pole, usually made from fiberglass or carbon fiber, as an aid to jump over a #bar, bar. Pole jumping was already practiced by the ...

er.

Career

Chapelle was born in

Colombes Colombes () is a Communes of France, commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France, from the Kilometre zero, centre of Paris. In 2019, Colombes was the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 53rd largest city in France. ...

and began pole vaulting in 2005, at the age of 10. He won his first major medal at the 2013 European Athletics Junior Championships in

Rieti Rieti (; , Sabino: ) is a town and ''comune'' in Lazio, central Italy, with a population of 47,700. It is the administrative seat of the province of Rieti and see of the diocese of Rieti, as well as the modern capital of the Sabina region. T ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, with a vault of 5.25 m. At the 2014 World Junior Championships in Athletics in

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lane County, Oregon, United States. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie River (Oregon), McKenzie and Willamette River, Willamette rivers, ...

, Chapelle won his first major gold medal, vaulting to a world junior leading height of 5.55 m. He broke into tears as he listened to ''

La Marseillaise "La Marseillaise" is the national anthem of France. It was written in 1792 by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle in Strasbourg after the declaration of war by the First French Republic against Austria, and was originally titled "". The French Na ...

'', the national anthem of France, after he received his gold medal on top of the podium at Hayward Field. He became only the second pole vaulter to win a junior world title for France since Jean Galfione in 1990.

Competition record

Personal life

Chapelle's older brother, Theo, is also a pole vaulter. They both train together at the EA Cergy Pontoise Athlétisme club in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

and have equal personal bests of 5.55 m.

References

External links

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Axel Chapelle
at FFA 1995 births Living people Sportspeople from Colombes Athletes from Hauts-de-Seine Athletes from Paris French male pole vaulters 21st-century French sportsmen {{France-polevault-bio-stub