{"id":780,"date":"2015-07-16T16:25:22","date_gmt":"2015-07-16T16:25:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.diamondleague.com\/monaco-press-conference-highlights-2\/"},"modified":"2015-07-16T16:25:22","modified_gmt":"2015-07-16T16:25:22","slug":"monaco-press-conference-highlights-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.diamondleague.com\/monaco-press-conference-highlights-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Monaco: Press Conference Highlights"},"content":{"rendered":"
But speaking at the pre-event press conference on Thursday (16), the Olympic champion didn\u2019t seem affected by his recent losses in Paris and Lausanne.<\/div>\n
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\u201cI can lose; I\u2019m human,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are allowed to lose. That\u2019s sport.<\/div>\n
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\u201cThis year is different to last year because the standard is a lot higher. Last year, I won in Paris with 5.70m. This year, I jumped 5.71m and I only finished fifth.<\/div>\n
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\u201cI\u2019m not worried about my performances. It\u2019s not like I failed to clear a height. I can jump. Maybe in one month, we\u2019ll forget about what happened because I\u2019ll be jumping well again. And in 2016, who will remember that I lost in Paris and Lausanne?<\/div>\n
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\u201cI cleared 5.85m at the French Championships, which shows I still have it,\u201d added the world record-holder. \u201cThe most important thing was to take the win, which has given me more confidence for Monaco.<\/div>\n
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\u201cI know my potential, so there are no worries on my part. My preparation for Beijing is still going well.\u201d<\/div>\n
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So what better place to prove his form than a stadium in which he is undefeated, having won here in 2009, 2011 and 2013?<\/div>\n
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\u201cI love this location and this stadium,\u201d Lavillenie said of the Stade Louis II. \u201cThe French team usually has a training camp here every April. I wasn\u2019t able to attend this year\u2019s camp because I was injured at the time. But I\u2019m looking forward to the competition.<\/div>\n
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\u201cThe meeting is held in the middle of July, which is a time of year when most athletes are in good shape. I\u2019ve also never seen bad weather in Monaco, so it\u2019s always easy to perform well in this stadium.\u201d<\/div>\n
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Unfortunately, Lavillenie won\u2019t be joined on the runway by younger brother Valentin, who broke his hand in training yesterday when his pole snapped.<\/div>\n
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\u201cI was at the stadium yesterday when it happened,\u201d said Lavillenie. \u201cI feel really bad for him, but things like that happen. It happened to my hand three years ago and I was able to come back. We won\u2019t be able to finish the season together, but he can come back for the next season.\u201d<\/div>\n
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The pole vault won\u2019t be the only exciting jumps competition in Monaco on Friday. World leader Pedro Pablo Pichardo and Olympic champion Christian Taylor will renew their rivalry in the triple jump.<\/div>\n
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\u201cI believe I\u2019m in great shape,\u201d said Taylor. \u201cPichardo is always pushing me and he forces me to push my own limits. Before, I used to put barriers in place by telling myself that it would be great to jump 18 metres at a major championship. But whenever Pichardo jumps crazy, I want to respond.<\/div>\n
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\u201cI believe I\u2019m in wonderful shape and I want to put on a great show,\u201d he added. \u201cWhy not both go over 18 metres again? If he\u2019s ready to rock and roll, then let\u2019s do it.\u201d<\/div>\n
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Taylor said that when he jumped 18.06m to win in Lausanne, he knew it was a good jump right away.<\/div>\n
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\u201cThere\u2019s a sweet spot on the board and you know when you hit it right,\u201d he said. \u201cBut you never really know what the mark is. That\u2019s why I stay calm and wait to celebrate until the numbers come up. To jump 18 metres is always a blessing. It\u2019s an out-of-body experience.\u201d<\/div>\n
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Just like the top high jumpers over the past couple of seasons, Taylor and Pichardo have quickly got used to replying to questions about the world record.<\/div>\n
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\u201cI\u2019ve always spoken about how much respect I have for distance,\u201d Taylor said of the 18.29m mark set in 1995 by Jonathan Edwards. \u201cThe US record is 18.09m, so that\u2019s the first hurdle I need to get over. But it\u2019s very far.<\/div>\n
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\u201cI think it will be one of those times when you don\u2019t even think about the wind or the crowd; you just go and do it.\u201d<\/div>\n
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Pichardo, meanwhile, seemed to adopt a different view.<\/div>\n
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\u201cI will need all of the conditions to be perfect: the crowd, the wind; everything has to be there,\u201d said the Cuban. \u201cI will also have to be 100% fit and ready to do it. If everything is there, then maybe we can produce such a performance. But if not, then it\u2019s not possible.\u201d<\/div>\n
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Genzebe Dibaba is another athlete who feels capable of breaking a world record.<\/div>\n
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The Ethiopian has set numerous world records indoors, but now she wants to do the same outdoors. She came close to the 5000m mark in Paris, clocking 14:15.41. And after running an African record of 3:54.11 in Barcelona, she feels she can get closer to the world 1500m record of 3:50.46 on Friday in Monaco.<\/div>\n
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\u201cLast week I ran 3:54 and it felt comfortable,\u201d said the two-time world indoor champion. \u201cTomorrow I\u2019m looking to run faster. I don\u2019t know how much faster, but I\u2019m going to go for it.<\/div>\n
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\u201cI was very happy but I wasn\u2019t surprised,\u201d she added of her performance in Barcelona. \u201cMy coach knew that I was ready to run that fast.<\/div>\n
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\u201cThis year we\u2019ve changed things and have done more intense training for the outdoor season. Now I think I can run faster outdoors than I previously thought I was capable of.<\/div>\n
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\u201cI have totally changed my training. I already have natural speed which I don\u2019t need to work on, so in training I\u2019ve been working more on my endurance. I wanted to train more for the outdoor season than the indoor season.\u201d<\/div>\n
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Dibaba is now undefeated this year and will head to the World Championships in Beijing as a gold medal favourite in whichever event she decides to contest. She may even double up.<\/div>\n
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\u201cI haven\u2019t yet made a final decision about whether to double up in Beijing,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019ll speak to my coach after the race tomorrow and then we\u2019ll decide what to do. If I had to pick one event, I would focus on the 5000m. My preparation has been geared more for that event, so physically and mentally I\u2019m ready to run that event.\u201d<\/div>\n
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French sprinter Jimmy Vicaut is also looking to double up in Beijing, but he still needs to achieve the 200m qualifying standard set by the French Athletics Federation (FFA).<\/div>\n
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\u201cI was a bit frustrated with my 200m at the French Championships because my time was 0.04 outside the World Championships qualifying standard,\u201d said Vicaut. \u201cMaybe I should have dipped a bit more, but I was a bit tired by the time of the 200m final and I didn\u2019t start strong enough. I was trying to catch Christophe (Lemaitre), but he is very strong in the last part of the race.\u201d<\/div>\n
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For now, though, his primary focus is the 100m in Monaco, where he will face the three fastest US sprinters this year.<\/div>\n
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\u201cIt looks like a rehearsal for the World Championships,\u201d said Vicaut, who equalled the European record of 9.86 when finishing second at the recent IAAF Diamond League meeting in Paris. \u201cTo have (Tyson) Gay, (Justin) Gatlin and (Trayvon) Bromell in that race is pretty impressive.<\/div>\n
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\u201cThe conditions are always great. It\u2019s better to run when it\u2019s warm, like it always is in Monaco. If you look at the field, it\u2019s incredible. There are four guys under 9.90, which is stronger than in Paris, so I have to be ready.<\/div>\n
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\u201cI feel lucky this year,\u201d added the 2013 European indoor champion. \u201cLast year I was injured four times, but this year I have been able to race without too many problems.<\/div>\n
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\u201cI have a time in mind that I\u2019d like to run for 100m, but I\u2019m not going to mention it until I achieve it.\u201d<\/div>\n
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Jon Mulkeen for the IAAF and the IAAF Diamond League<\/i><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Renaud Lavillenie arrives at Monaco\u2019s Herculis meeting in unfamiliar circumstances. Never...","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":781,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"city":[],"class_list":["post-780","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondleague.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/780","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondleague.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondleague.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondleague.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=780"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondleague.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/780\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondleague.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/781"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondleague.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=780"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondleague.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=780"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondleague.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=780"},{"taxonomy":"city","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondleague.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/city?post=780"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}