Jimmy Gressier (born 4 May 1997) is a French middle- and long-distance runner. He won gold in the 10,000 metres and bronze in the 5000 metres at the 2025 World Athletics Championships. He has also won gold medals in the 5000 metres and 10,000 metres at the 2019 European Under-23 Championships. Gressier claimed four individual medals at the European Cross Country Championships, including three U23 titles. He is the European record holder for the 5 km road race. He won the 3000 metres at the 2025 Diamond League Final.
Career Competing in cross country running, Gressier was part of France's gold medal-winning team in the U20 race at the European Cross Country Championships in 2015 and 2016. Gressier won the gold medal at the 2017 European Cross Country Championships in Šamorín in the U23 race. Gressier won the gold medal again at the 2018 European Cross Country Championships in Tilburg in the U23 race.
Competiting at the 2019 European Athletics U23 Championships, Gressier won the gold medal in the 5000 m in Gävle, also winning the gold medal in the 10,000 m at the championships. Later that year, Gressier ran the Corrida de Houilles, a road race in Paris over 10 km in a European-leading time of 27:43 to move to second on the European all-time list behind only Julien Wanders of Switzerland. Gressier also won the gold medal at the 2019 European Cross Country Championships in Lisbon in the U23 race, for the third consecutive year.
Gressier represented France at the delayed 2020 Summer Olympics, held in Tokyo in 2021, in the men's 5000 metres, qualifying for the final and placing 13th overall. Stepping up to the seniors after his under-23 victories, he was a bronze medalist at the 2021 European Cross Country Championships in Dublin, Ireland, finishing behind Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Aras Kaya of Turkey.
Gressier placed eleventh at the 2022 World Athletics Championships over 10,000 metres in Eugene, Oregon, and fourth over that distance at the 2022 European Athletics Championships in Munich, Germany.
2023: European 5 km road record Gressier held the European 5 km road race record of 13:18 from February 2020 until April 2022, when Italy's Yemaneberhan Crippa set a new continental best mark of 13:14. On 12 February 2023, Gressier regained his record at the Monaco Run – 5 km Herculis with a time of 13:12.
That year, he had a top-ten finish in the final of the 5000 metres at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest, and a top-five finish at the 2023 World Athletics Road Running Championships in the half marathon in Riga, Latvia.
Gressier placed fifth over 10,000 metres at the 2024 European Athletics Championships in Rome, Italy. Competing at the 2024 Olympic Games, he was eliminated in the heats over 5000 metres, and placed thirteenth in the 10,000 metres.
2025: 10,000 m world champion In February 2025, Gressier set a new European indoor record over 5000 metres of 12:54.92 at the BU David Hemery Valentine International in Boston, Massachusetts, finishing behind a world-record setting Grant Fisher. Competing in the half marathon, Gressier won the gold medal at the 2025 European Running Championships in Brussels in April 2025, running a personal best time of 59:45 to win ahead of Awet Nftalem Kibrab. It was his first senior-level title.
In August, Gressier won the 2025 Diamond League final in Zurich over 3000 metres. At the 2025 World Athletics Championships held in Tokyo, Gressier was the surprise winner of the 10,000 m. Gressier won with a late burst of speed in the finishing straight, coming in with a time of 28 minutes 55.77 seconds. He is the first Frenchman and the third European male to have won at this distance in the world championship, and only the second male champion not to be born in Africa after Alberto Cova in 1983. On the final day of the World Championships, Gressier added a bronze medal to his haul after finishing third in the 5000 m race.
Gressier won the silver medal at the 2025 European Cross Country Championships in Lagoa, Portugal, behind Thierry Ndikumwenayo of Spain.
Gressier improved his own European 5 km record to 12:51, missing the world record by just two seconds, at the Urban Trail de Lille in France on 4 April 2026. On 17 June, Gressier broke the French 3000m record at the Meeting de Montreuil, with 7:28.67, also moving into the European all-time top-10 list.
He won the bronze medal at 10.000 meters at the 2026 European Championship in Birmingham.
Miscellaneous Gressier is known for race finish celebrations. At the 2018 edition of the European cross country while in first place at the end of the U23 race he attempted a football player like knee slide but ended up falling flat on his face as he crossed the line. At the 2019 edition of the same race Gressier was so far clear of the other competitors that he walked across the line. At the 2019 French Cross Country Championships, Gressier began slapping hands with the crowd and high-fived a mascot before looking back to discover that he wasn't leading as big a margin as he thought and had to sprint for the finish. At the French Cross Country Championships in March 2023, he celebrated by eating a crepe before the finish line. He attempted, unsuccessfully, to feed some of his victory crepe to second-place finisher Markus Georger, who declined. He then offered some to third-place Fabien Palcau, who happily accepted. He celebrated his victory in the half marathon at the 2025 European Running Championships in April 2025, by hurdling over the victory tape.
Personal life He lived in Boulogne-sur-Mer in Northern France and played football as well as competing in athletics as a teenager. In 2015, Gressier was selected to play for a football team representing France at the World Schools Football Cup in Guatemala, as well as being selected for the Junior Cross-Country World Championships in China. However, it became difficult to pursue both and he stopped football at the age of 17.
Achievements International competitions 2015World Cross Country ChampionshipsGuiyang, China80thJunior race27:10European Cross Country ChampionshipsHyères, France4thJunior race17:481stJunior team27 pts2016World U20 ChampionshipsBydgoszcz, Poland10th5000 m13:55.07European Cross Country ChampionshipsChia, Italy4thJunior race17:191stJunior team26 pts2017European U23 ChampionshipsBydgoszcz, Poland–5000 mDQEuropean Cross Country ChampionshipsŠamorín, Slovakia1stU23 race24:351stU23 team7 pts2018Mediterranean U23 ChampionshipsJesolo, Italy1st5000 m14:35.85Mediterranean GamesTarragona, Spain8th5000 m14:01.13European Cross Country ChampionshipsTilburg, Netherlands1stU23 race23:371stU23 team11 pts2019European Indoor ChampionshipsGlasgow, United Kingdom7th3000 m8:00.89European U23 ChampionshipsGävle, Sweden1st5000 m14:16.551st10,000 m28:44.17European Cross Country ChampionshipsLisbon, Portugal1stU23 race24:171stU23 team17 pts2021European Indoor ChampionshipsToruń, Poland8th3000 m7:52.43Olympic GamesTokyo, Japan13th5000 m13:11.33European Cross Country ChampionshipsDublin, Ireland3rdSenior race30:341stSenior team13 pts2022European 10,000m CupPacé, France1st10,000 m27:24.51World ChampionshipsEugene, United States11th10,000 m27:44.55European ChampionshipsMunich, Germany4th10,000 m27:49.842023World ChampionshipsBudapest, Hungary9th5000 m13:17.202024European ChampionshipsRome, Italy5th10,000 m28:01.42Olympic GamesParis, France27th (h)5000 m14:09.9513th10,000 m26:58.672026European Running ChampionshipsLeuven, Belgium1stHalf marathon59:45World ChampionshipsTokyo, Japan3rd5000 m12:59.331st10,000 m28:55.772026European ChampionshipsBirmingham, United Kingdom4th5000 m13:16.363rd10,000 m28:07.90World Road Running ChampionshipsCopenhagen, Denmark14th5 km13:17
Personal bests 800 metres – 1:54.33 (Calais 2017) 1000 metres – 2:24.84 (Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise 2017) 1500 metres – 3:32.71 (Heusden-Zolder 2025) 1500 metres indoor – 3:37.41 (Metz 2022) 3000 metres – 7:28.67 (Montreuil 2026) 3000 metres indoor – 7:30.18 (New York 2025) 5000 metres – 12:51.59 (Paris 2025) 5000 metres indoor - 12:54.92 (Boston 2025) 10,000 metres – 26:58.67 (Paris 2024) 3000 m steeplechase – 8:24.72 (Décines 2020) Road 5 kilometres – 12:51 (Lille 2026) 10 kilometres – 27:07 (Lille 2024) Half marathon - 59:45 (Brussels 2025)
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