Christophe Lemaitre (; born 11 June 1990) is a former French sprinter who specialised in the

100 100 or one hundred (Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101. In mathematics 100 is the square of 10 (in scientific notation it is written as 102). The standard SI prefix for a hundred is " hecto-". 100 is the b ...

and

200 metres The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400-metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slight ...

. In 2010, Lemaitre became the first white athlete to break the

10-second barrier The 10-second barrier is the physical and psychological barrier of completing the 100 metres sprint in under ten seconds. The achievement is traditionally regarded as the hallmark of a world-class male sprinter. Its significance has become less ...

in an officially timed 100 m event. Lemaitre has run a sub-10 second 100 m on seven occasions: three times in 2010 and four times in 2011. He won a bronze medal in the 4 × 100 m relay at the 2012 London Olympic Games and in the 200 metres at the Rio 2016 Summer Olympics. At the age of 20, Lemaitre won the 100 m, 200 m and the 4 × 100 m relay titles at the 2010 European Championships, the first French sprinter ever to achieve that triple. He was the fastest

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

an 100 m and 200 m sprinter in 2010. He won a bronze medal in the 200 m at the 2011 World Championships. As of August 2013, Lemaitre was one of the three Frenchmen (the other two are Ronald Pognon and Jimmy Vicaut) to have broken the 10-second barrier in the 100 metres outdoor. Due to injury and a negative reaction to his COVID-19 vaccination, Lemaitre did not compete in the

2020 Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

Career

Growing up

Lemaitre grew up in the town of

Annecy Annecy ( , ; , also ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of the Haute-Savoie Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, regi ...

, where he took part in

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of thr ...

, rugby and

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

, before his sprinting prowess was discovered. In 2005 at the age of 15, during national sprinting events, Lemaitre ended up with the fastest 50 metres in the country. A month after his 16th birthday in 2006, and less than a year after joining an athletics club in

Aix-les-Bains Aix-les-Bains (, ; ; ), known locally and simply as Aix, is a Communes of France, commune in the southeastern French Departments of France, department of Savoie.2008 World Junior Championships in Athletics, Lemaitre won the 200 m title with a time of 20.83 seconds. At the 2009 European Athletics Junior Championships, Lemaitre won

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

in the 100 m and set a new European junior record with a time of 10.04 seconds. He won the 2009 men's

European Athletics Rising Star of the Year Award The European Athlete of the Year award is an Athlete of the Year, annual prize for sportspeople from Europe participating in athletics (sport), athletics, including track and field, road running, and cross country running competitions. The elec ...

for his achievements in 2009.

2010: European champion in 100 m, 200 m, and 4 × 100 m

At the start of the 2010 outdoor season, he opened with a run of 10.09 seconds in

Aix-les-Bains Aix-les-Bains (, ; ; ), known locally and simply as Aix, is a Communes of France, commune in the southeastern French Departments of France, department of Savoie.m/s in

Vénissieux Vénissieux (; Arpitan language, Arpitan: or in the Lyonnais dialect) is a Communes of France, commune in the Metropolis of Lyon in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region in eastern France. Geography Vénissieux is located on the sou ...

. He ran at the French National Interclub Championships in Franconville in May 2010 and recorded a new 100 m personal best of 10.03 seconds, although he said he was disappointed to have missed Ronald Pognon's French record of 9.99 seconds. He aimed once more at the record at the 2010 European Team Championships and, although he again missed his target, he finished as runner-up against

Dwain Chambers Dwain Anthony Chambers (born 5 April 1978) is a British track and field, track Sprint (running), sprinter. He has won international medals at World and European levels and is one of the fastest European sprinters in the history of athletics (spo ...

with a personal best of 10.02 seconds. On 9 July 2010, Lemaitre officially became the first man purely of European descent to run 100 metres in under 10 seconds, with a time of 9.98 s at the 2010 French National Championships in the city of Valence. By doing so, Lemaitre also broke the 100 m French national record of 9.99 s set by Ronald Pognon on 5 July 2005 in

Lausanne Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, city of the Swiss French-speaking Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway bet ...

. Afterwards Lemaitre said, "Of course, it was my goal to break it (the 10-second barrier). One has to run under 10 seconds in order to be part of the world's best. I will be recognised as the first white man to do so, but today's achievement is mainly about making history for myself!...It is not about the color (of one's skin), it is about hard work." One day later (at the same 2010 French National Championships), Lemaitre equalled the 200 m French national outdoor record with a time of 20.16 seconds. Gilles Quénéhervé had held the 200 m French national outdoor record exclusively for almost 23 years - since 3 September 1987. 100 m men final Barcelona 2010

At the 2010 European Championships, he won the gold medal in the 100 m with a time of 10.11 s. The next day, after comfortably progressing through the heats and semi-finals of the 200 m, Lemaitre became the double European champion by storming to victory in the 200 m final in a time of 20.37 s, beating Great Britain's

Christian Malcolm Christian Sean Malcolm (born 3 June 1979) is a retired Welsh track and field athlete who specialised in the 200 metres. In 2020 he was appointed Head Coach of the British Athletics Olympic Programme. Early life Malcolm was born and was brough ...

by 0.01 s (Malcolm clocked his season's best time of 20.38 s in the final). Lemaitre then combined with Jimmy Vicaut, Pierre-Alexis Pessonneaux, and Martial Mbandjock in the 4 × 100 m relay final to finish first ahead of

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 ...

and

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

in a time of 38.11 s. At the

IAAF World Challenge The IAAF World Challenge was an annual, global circuit of one-day track and field competitions organized by the International Association of Athletics Federations World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation ...

's Rieti Meeting in Rieti, Italy on 29 August 2010, Lemaitre competed in the 100 m. In that event, he equalled his personal best in his heat with a time of 9.98 s, and improved on it in the final with a time of 9.97 s (reaction time 0.199 s).

2011: World Championships 200 m bronze and 4 × 100 m silver

During the 2011 European Indoor Championships 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 ...

, Christophe Lemaitre was the fastest during the heats of the 60 m event. He also had the fastest time in the semi-finals, but he only finished in third place in the final. On 7 June, at the first meeting of the Pro Athlé Tour in Montreuil, he broke his own national record with a time of 9.96 s. On 18 June, he went on to again lower his national record, clocking a time of 9.95 s at the 2011 European Team Championships in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

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

. On 29 July, he again lowered the French national record at the French National Championships in

Albi Albi (; ) is a commune in France, commune in southern France. It is the prefecture of the Tarn (department), Tarn Departments of France, department, on the river Tarn (river), Tarn, 85 km northeast of Toulouse. Its inhabitants are called ...

, with a time of 9.92 s. By winning that race in 9.92 s, he became the third fastest sprinter of non-west African descent (after

Frankie Fredericks Frank "Frankie" Fredericks (born 2 October 1967) is a former track and field athlete from Namibia. Running in the 100 metres and 200 metres, he won four silver medals at the Olympic Games (two in 1992 and two in 1996), making him Namibia's o ...

and 0.01 s ahead of Patrick Johnson). On 30 July, he appeared to break the 200 metres French national record, but it did not count as the wind speed was 2.3 m/s, which was 0.3 m/s over the limit. At the 2011 World Championships in

Daegu Daegu (; ), formerly spelled Taegu and officially Daegu Metropolitan City (), is a city in southeastern South Korea. It is the third-largest urban agglomeration in South Korea after Seoul and Busan; the fourth-largest List of provincial-level ci ...

, Lemaitre reached the final of the 100 m event, where he finished fourth. On 3 September, he won the bronze medal in the 200 m event, with a time of 19.80 s and a wind speed of 0.8 m/s in the final. In doing so, he pulverized the previous French national record (20.16 s) that he had shared with Gilles Quénéhervé for 14 months by 0.36 seconds. In that race he became the second-fastest European 200 m sprinter in history after

Pietro Mennea Pietro Paolo Mennea (; 28 June 1952 – 21 March 2013), nicknamed ("the Arrow of the South"), was an Italian sprinter and politician. He was most successful in the 200 m event, winning a gold medal at the 1980 Moscow Olympics, and setting a wor ...

and also the first white man to break 10 seconds for 100 metres and 20 seconds for 200 metres. On 4 September, Lemaitre teamed up with Jimmy Vicaut, Teddy Tinmar and Yannick Lesourd to run a season best of 38.20 s in the 4 × 100 metres relay final, finishing second behind the world record-breaking Jamaican team and thus taking the silver medal.

2012: Olympic 4 × 100 m bronze in London

Lemaitre, after consulting with his coach, opted out of competing in the 100 m in the

2012 London Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. Lemaitre would thus only participate in the 200 m, in which he was ranked fourth that year, and the 4 × 100 m relay. His coach, Pierre Carraz, said: "In the results over 100m, Christophe is only ranked 10th among those who have entered. Over 200m, we can hope for a medal." Lemaitre finished sixth in the 200 m final in a time of 20.19 s. After the final, he said, "I started very well. And then I still had this problem at the bend. I did my best, but it was too difficult. I finished sixth. There is not much to say. For me, it was not the final I was hoping for." In the 4 × 100 m relay final, Lemaitre won his first Olympic medal, with his team taking the bronze behind

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

(gold) and

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago, officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean, comprising the main islands of Trinidad and Tobago, along with several List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, smaller i ...

(silver).

2013

In the 100 m final at the 2013 World Championships in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

, Lemaitre finished in seventh place in a time of 10.06. On 12 August, one day after the 100 m final, he withdrew from the 200 m and the 4 × 100 m relay due to an injury near the right knee sustained during the 100 m final.

2014

At the 2014 European Championships, he won three medals, with silvers in the 100 m and 200 m behind the British sprinters

James Dasaolu James Dasaolu (born 5 September 1987) is a retired British track and field athlete who specialised in the 100 metres. He was the 2014 European champion over the distance. In July 2013, he became the second fastest Briton of all time after runni ...

and Adam Gemili respectively, before winning bronze in the 4 × 100 m relay. He has now won a record eight medals at the European Championships.

2016: Olympic 200 m bronze in Rio de Janeiro

Christophe Lemaitre Meeting de Paris 2016

After a disappointing 2015 season in which he failed to reach the World Championships final in

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

in either the 100 m or the 200 m, Lemaitre started to think about changing his coach. After months of reflection, he decided to stay and train in his hometown of

Aix-les-Bains Aix-les-Bains (, ; ; ), known locally and simply as Aix, is a Communes of France, commune in the southeastern French Departments of France, department of Savoie.European Championships A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

in order to prepare for the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

. At the

Olympics The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competit ...

, Lemaitre didn't reach the 100 m final after finishing third in his semi-final in 10.07, although it was his season's best. However, in the 200 m, he qualified for the final after clocking 20.01 in the semi-final behind America's LaShawn Merritt. In the 200 metres final, Lemaitre won the bronze medal in a 20.12 clocking, just 3 milliseconds ahead of Great Britain's Adam Gemili, with the podium spot determined in a photo finish. In the process, Lemaitre became the first French athlete to win a medal in the event since Abdoulaye Seye in 1960.

2017

Lemaitre in the 200 metres event competed at the 2017 IAAF World Championships in Athletics. There, he finished third in his heat with a time of 20.40, behind Ameer Webb, and Ramil Guliyev, who would win the final 3 days later. 2 days later, Lemaitre failed to advance to the final, finishing 4th in his semi, but clocking 20.30. His time however, was the 8th fastest, but Japanese sprinter Abdul Hakim Sani Brown qualified automatically with 20.43.

2018

During the indoor season Lemaitre came within 0.02 of his personal best with a 6.57 in the 60 m heats at a meeting in Mondeville and finished ahead of Jimmy Vicaut in the final, but during the outdoor season injured his right hamstring during the 100 m Diamond League race at the

Meeting de Paris Meeting de Paris (formerly known as the Meeting Areva and Meeting Gaz de France) is an annual track and field meeting at the Stade Sébastien Charléty in Paris, France. Previously one of the IAAF Golden League events, it is now part of the Di ...

. This ruled him out of the

2018 European Athletics Championships The 2018 European Athletics Championships were held in Berlin, Germany, from 6 to 12 August 2018. The championships were part of the first European Championships with other events happening in the United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Grea ...

later that year.

2019

Lemaitre was selected by the French Athletics Federation for the 200 m and 4 × 100 m relay at the

2019 World Athletics Championships The 2019 IAAF World Athletics Championships () was the seventeenth edition of the biennial, global sport of athletics, athletics competition organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), since renamed World Athleti ...

. After some disappointing results at 200 m leading up to the competition, Lemaitre gave up the 200 m and decided to focus only on the relay at the World Championships. Lemaitre was assigned to run the anchor leg for France in the 4 × 100 m final in Doha, but the French team failed to pass the baton on the first exchange and did not finish the race.

2021

Lemaitre struggled with injuries in the buildup to the

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

and his preparation was further hampered by a bad reaction following a COVID-19 vaccination. As a result he withdrew from the French Athletics Championships, and was not selected to represent France at the Olympics.

2024

Lemaitre announced his retirement in June 2024 after failing to qualify for the 2024 Olympics in Pari

Recognition

Christophe Lemaitre was the winner of the European Athlete of the Year, 2010 men's European Athlete of the Year Trophy. He was also named the 2010 ''L'Équipe'' Champion of Champions (France category) (ahead of

Sébastien Loeb Sébastien Loeb (; born 26 February 1974) is a French professional rally, racing and rallycross driver. He is the most successful driver in the World Rally Championship (WRC), having won the world championship a record nine times in a row. He ho ...

and

Teddy Riner Teddy Pierre-Marie Riner (, ; born 7 April 1989) is a French heavyweight judoka. An eleven-time world champion in the heavyweight (+100 kg) division, two-time openweight world champion and one-time world champion with the French men's te ...

) by the French sports daily ''

L'Équipe ''L'Équipe'' (, French for "the team") is a French nationwide daily newspaper devoted to sport, owned by Éditions Philippe Amaury. The paper is noted for coverage of association football, rugby, motorsport, and cycling. Its predecessor, '' ...

'' and the 2010 RTL Champion of Champions by the French commercial radio network RTL. After Lemaitre had first broken the ten seconds barrier in the 100 m in 2010, ''

'' put him on the front page, even though the

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage cycle sport, bicycle race held primarily in France. It is the oldest and most prestigious of the three Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours, which include the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a ...

was taking place. During his

European Championships A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

treble gold medal winning year of 2010, Lemaitre ran faster than the former world record-holder Asafa Powell and the former double world champion

Tyson Gay Tyson Gay (born August 9, 1982) is a retired American track and field sprint (running), sprinter who competed in the 100 metres, 100 and 200 metres, 200 meters. His 100 m personal best of 9.69 seconds is the United States records in track ...

did at his age. Lemaitre took second place in the total points received that decided who was to win the 2011 men's European Athlete of the Year Trophy.

Personal life

In addition to his career in athletics, Lemaitre attends the University of Savoy, where he is studying for a professional bachelor's degree in industrial electrical engineering and computer science.

Personal bests

Key: NR = National record

References

External links

* *
Christophe Lemaitre
at the French Athletics Federation
Christophe Lemaitre
at the

European Athletic Association The European Athletic Association (EAA, more commonly known as European Athletics) is the governing body for athletics in Europe. It is one of the six Area Associations of the world's athletics governing body World Athletics. European Athletics h ...

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lemaitre, Christophe 1990 births Living people French male sprinters Sportspeople from Annecy Athletes from Haute-Savoie Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for France Olympic bronze medalists for France Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics World Athletics Championships medalists European Athletics Championships medalists Université Savoie Mont Blanc alumni World Athletics Championships athletes for France Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field) Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics European Athlete of the Year winners European Athletics Rising Star of the Year winners IAAF Continental Cup winners Diamond League winners 21st-century French sportsmen