Three weeks ago, world-record pole vaulter Renaud Lavillenie of France was running the final paces of the men’s 4×100 relay at a French national clubs competition when he tripped over his feet and fell shoulder first to the track. He later learned that he strained a ligament in his shoulder. Lavillenie was forced to withdraw from the Diamond League competition in Doha and take two weeks off from pole vault-specific training.
For those two weeks, Lavillenie was able only to run, sprint and jump with little to no weight-bearing exercises with his right arm.
He did only two training sessions with the pole before arriving in Eugene for the 41st Annual Prefontaine Classic at Hayward Field, and did one more Friday to test it before his event on Saturday.
As he walked into the Prefontaine Classic press conference Friday afternoon, Lavillenie had white tape covering his upper arm and blue tape spreading from his shoulder to his neck. He looked at the race director and said, “Don’t be worried. We’ll be good.”
Lavillenie is the current world record holder for the indoor men’s pole vault (20 feet 2 1/2 inches), the 2012 gold medalist in the London Olympics and a four-time consecutive IAAF Diamond League champion (2010-2013).
Lavillenie will be competing against a field that includes his brother, Valentin Lavillenie. Valentin has a personal best of 18-6 7/16.
“I’m really happy that he is able to compete with me over here in Eugene, because that is a really huge meeting,” he said. “And, for him, it will be the longest travel ever for competition. I think it’s a really good try before Beijing in a few months.”
From a young age, Renaud and Valentin were exposed to pole vaulting through their father, who competed in local events.
“I was trying to do like my father, like most other kids,” Renaud said. “And, I think, my brother was the same.”
Valentin came to pole vaulting later in life than his older brother, but he eventually joined the family tradition. “Pole vault is very important for us,” Renaud said. “We spend a lot of time with it, but we also have different things to share together. So, we are not talking pole vault every minute.”
In his moments away from track and field, Renaud competes in a different race circuit. He races motorcycles and has competed in the 24-hour Le Mans twice, both with top-20 finishes.
“The fact is, track and field, you know, after 25 at least to 40, it can be really hard to enjoy yourself because of the body,” he said. “And the good thing is, with motorsports, even at 50 you can enjoy yourself. So, that’s why motorbike is a good option for the future.”
However, Renaud says he plans to take this next year off from the Le Mans competition so he can focus on preparing for the 2016 Olympics in Rio. Saturday’s competition is one piece of his long-term preparation.
“I will not be at 100 percent, but maybe 95,” he said. “But, uh, that’s enough to do something good.”
— Katie Pietzold
