Romain Mesnil (born 13 June 1977 in Le Plessis-Bouchard) is a retired, French pole vaulter. His personal outdoor best is 5.95 metres, achieved in August 2003 in Castres. His personal indoor best is 5.86 metres, set in March 2001 in Toulouse. His coach was Georges Martin.
Biography Mesnil won the 1999 European Athletics U23 Championships gold medal, 2 World Championship silvers, 1 World Indoor Championship bronze, 1 European Championship silver and 1 Universiade bronze. He won seven outdoor and three indoor French National Athletics Championships titles from 1998 to 2011.
In March 2009, Mesnil released a video of himself running naked through the streets of Paris as if to pole vault in Parisian tourist spots. The video, posted on YouTube, was an attempt to attract attention to his quest for a new sponsorship deal. His sponsorship contract with Nike had expired in 2008 and was not renewed.Naked pole vaulter seeks sponsor ESPN, March 29, 2009
Mesnil finished in 10th position (5.50m) in the pole vault final of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, his fourth and final Olympic Games. He had previously taken part in the last three Olympics in Sydney, Athens and Beijing but had failed to qualify for the final each time.
Mesnil retired from pole vaulting in July 2013. His last competition - the Meeting Areva - was held on 6 July 2013 at the Stade de France in Paris.Les adieux du perchiste albigeois Romain Mesnil FranceTV3 Midi-Pyrénées July 7, 2013
Results in international competitions Only the position and height in the final are indicated, unless otherwise stated. (q) means the athlete did not qualify for the final, with the overall position and height in the qualification round indicated.
Representing 1996World Junior Championships Sydney, Australia13th (q)5.10 m1998European Indoor ChampionshipsValencia, Spain8th5.50 mEuropean ChampionshipsBudapest, Hungary – (q)NM1999World Indoor Championships Maebashi, Japan6th5.70 mUniversiade Palma de Mallorca, Spain 3rd5.55 m European U23 ChampionshipsGothenburg, Sweden1st5.93 mWorld Championships Seville, Spain8th in qualification5.70 m in qualificationNo height registered in the final2000Olympic GamesSydney, Australia31st (q)5.40 m 2001World Indoor Championships Lisbon, Portugal 3rd5.85 mWorld Championships Edmonton, Canada5th5.85 m 2002European Indoor ChampionshipsVienna, Austria10th (q)5.55 mEuropean ChampionshipsMunich, Germany – (q)NM2003World Indoor Championships Birmingham, England7th5.60 mEuropean CupFlorence, Italy 1st5.75 mWorld Championships Paris, France – (q)NM World Athletics Final Monte Carlo, Monaco7th5.45 m2004World Indoor Championships Budapest, Hungary7th5.60 mEuropean CupBydgoszcz, Poland 1st5.75 mOlympic GamesAthens, Greece18th (q)5.65 m 2006World Indoor ChampionshipsMoscow, Russia – (q)NMEuropean CupMálaga, Spain 1st5.70 mEuropean Championships Gothenburg, Sweden 2nd5.65 m2007World ChampionshipsOsaka, Japan 2nd5.86 m2008Olympic GamesBeijing, China14th (q)5.55 m 2009European Indoor ChampionshipsTurin, Italy7th5.61 mWorld ChampionshipsBerlin, Germany 2nd5.85 m2010European ChampionshipsBarcelona, Spain8th5.60 m2011World ChampionshipsDaegu, South Korea1st in qualification5.65 m in qualificationNo height registered in the final2012World Indoor ChampionshipsIstanbul, Turkey8th5.50 mEuropean ChampionshipsHelsinki, Finland – (q)NMOlympic GamesLondon, United Kingdom10th5.50 m
See also French all-time top lists - Pole vault
References
External links