Olympic doubt over Lemaitre

French sprinters Christophe Lemaitre and Jimmy Vicaut, and middle-distance runner Pierre-Ambroise Bosse, have all withdrawn from their country’s national championships this weekend, casting a shadow over the former’s presence at the Tokyo Olympics.

The trio’s withdrawal from the championships comes a day after that of world hammer silver medallist Quentin Bigot and European 100m hurdles champion and world bronze medallist Pascal Martinot-Lagarde.

Vicaut, part of France’s bronze medal-winning 4x100m relay team at the 2012 London Olympics and joint European 100m record holder with a best of 9.86 seconds set most recently in 2016, is still suffering a muscular problem.

Lemaitre, bronze medallist over 200m at the 2016 Rio Games, is making his comeback from injury and has also reacted badly to his COVID-19 vaccines, according to his training group.

Critical moment

Lemaitre, 31, faces a critical moment as he has not run the qualifying times for either the 100m or 200m. He has only until June 29 to ensure qualification.

Vicaut and Bosse, the 2017 world champion over 800m, are both eligible for selection for the July 23-August 8 Tokyo Games, although Bosse has not yet run outdoors.