Lavillenie’s home vault to pole position

PARIS: France’s former Olympics pole vault champion Renaud Lavillenie (in pic) has found a way to keep his competitive juices flowing during the coronavirus lockdown by staging an “international home containment competition”. While some elite athletes have been struggling to find ways of staying fit while confined to their homes, the 33-year-old former world record holder has taken full advantage of the jumping set-up at his home in central France.

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Lavillenie, who won Olympics gold in London and silver in Rio, posted a video on Twitter of one jump on Saturday, when he raced down the garden path and soared 5.61 metres into the bright blue skies above Pérignat-lès-Sarliève in Auvergne. “Day 20,” he wrote above the video, which was accompanied by his own commentary. “Everything is under control! Tears of joy on my face after a 5m61 today during my international home containment competition.” Although the mark was well short of the 6.16m he jumped to end Sergey Bubka’s 20-year hold on the world record in 2014, it would have been good enough for eighth on the outdoor world list for 2020, albeit in a season which barely got underway.

Lavillenie also revealed that he was closing in on his “home world record” of 5.85m.

During his 20 days of self-isolation, Lavillenie has been regularly posting updates of creative efforts to stay fit, including bench-pressing a toddler and weightlifting using car tyres. reuters