The French National Indoor Championships took place on Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 February in Miramas (FRA).
The two walking races took place on Saturday 26th with the following timing.
- 13:05: 3.000m indoor women
- 13:30: 5.000m indoor men
3.000m indoor women
The absence of France’s distance record holder, Clémence Beretta (12:30.52; Lievin, 1.2.2020), means that the competition for the 2022 Indoor Champion title is very open.
The best times of the accreditation are those of Camille Moutard (13:09.34) and Marion Manaresi (13:15.59), but also the expert Emilie Menuet (13:12.21) seems to be in the game.
Emilie Menuet starts immediately in the lead, followed by Camille Moutard.
However, during the race, Menuet suffered from thigh problems that forced her to stop and restart three times, frustrating her attempt to get the gold.
Victory to Camille Moutard (FRA) in 12:43.45 which represents the new personal best of the athlete (previous of 12:51.89 always obtained in Miramar, FRA on 02.19.2021 when she finished third in the 2021 Indoor Championships.
Second place to Marion Manaresi (FRA) in 13:04.97 which also represents for her the new personal best (previous of 13:31.52 always obtained in Miramar, FRA on 19.2.2021 when she finished fifth in the 2021 Indoor Championships.
Bronze to Emilie Menuet (FRA) in 13:22.94
Twelve athletes at the start of which 10 completed the race and 2 DQ
5.000m indoor men
The race is orphaned by three prestigious names of the French team, Aurelien Quinon, Kevin Campion and Gabriel Bordier who are in full preparation for next week's Team World Championship in Muscat.
The favorite is therefore David Kuster who with his accreditation of 19:45.88 is the only athlete to show up with a time of less than 20:00.00 while Martin Madeline-Degy has good chances as an outsider (20:28.01).
France's distance record belongs to Yohann Diniz (18:40.26; Lievin, 21.2.2009)
David Kuster immediately starts in the lead and remains the leader for 3km when, immediately after, he is disqualified for irregular walking.
The battle for the title then flarea up between the two athletes who followed him: Martin Madeline-Degy and Lucas Dreville who in the last two laps fight shoulder to shoulder, followed shortly by Alexis Robichon.
While the two are fighting for victory for victory, the unexpected happens: the ringing of the bell mistakenly occurs one lap earlier and the first three at the finish manage to complete exhausted only 4,800m with these unofficial times:
1.- Martin Madeline-Degy (FRA) in 19:31.06
2.- Lucas Dreville (FRA) in 19:32.17
3.- Alexis Robichon (FRA) in 19:42.37
Only after the fourth athlete (Remi Rodriguez, Between in 20: 37.50) the athletes complete the correct distance.
The result of the race brings them back to the top even if in the rankings for the rankings they will be indicated as DNF