Bolt returns to Paris - IAAF Diamond League

Usain Bolt will compete in the 2013 edition of the Meeting AREVA, the ninth leg of this year’s IAAF Diamond League, in Paris on Saturday 6 July.

The Jamaican has confirmed his presence on the Stade de France track, venue of the 2003 IAAF World Championships. He will be taking part in the 200m, the final race of the evening.

Bolt holds the World record for the event with 19.19, set at the 2009 IAAF World Championships in Berlin. He has won the last two World titles over the distance, in 2009 and 2011, as well as the last two Olympic Games 200m gold medals in 2008 and 2012.

It will be the fourth time Bolt has run in the French capital. He competed at the Meeting AREVA in 2009 and 2010, over 100m, then in 2011 over 200m.

The organisers of the Meeting AREVA have also confirmed the participation of two of the top stars of French athletics: sprinter Christophe Lemaitre and pole vaulter Renaud Lavillenie.

The former will challenge Bolt over 200m for a repeat of their 2011 encounter when the Jamaican just edged out the 2012 European Athletics Championships 100m gold medallist.

With less than five weeks until the 2013 IAAF World Championships in Moscow (10 to 18 August), their confrontation potentially could resemble a dress rehearsal. Both sprinters stood together on the podium at the last IAAF World Championships in Daegu two years ago, with Bolt first and Lemaitre third.

Lavillenie has enjoyed four consecutive victories at the Meeting AREVA, winning in each of the last four years. The 2012 Olympic and European champion’s best performance was in 2010, when he cleared 5.91m. This year, he again has in his sights the meeting record, which is held jointly by Ukraine’s Sergey Bubka and USA’s Jeff Hartwig with 6.00m.

IAAF

2013 IAAF Diamond League calendar
Doha, QAT – 10 May
Shanghai, CHN – 18 May
New York, USA – 25 May
Eugene, USA – 1 Jun
Rome, ITA – 6 Jun
Oslo, NOR – 13 Jun
Birmingham, GBR – 30 Jun
Lausanne, SUI – 4 Jul
Paris, FRA – 6 Jul
Monaco, MON – 19 Jul
London, GBR – 27 Jul
Stockholm, SWE – 22 Aug
Zürich, SUI – 29 Aug
Brussels, BEL – 6 Sep