The high point of the indoor athletics season in France, the Paris meeting, which was to take place on Saturday January 22 at the Accor Arena in Paris-Bercy, will ultimately not take place. So decided by the organizers because of the sanitary situation and the capacity limited to 2000 spectators. They are looking for a new date, and have until March 7 to find it.
Six events were on the program: the 60m (women and men), the 60m hurdles (women and men), the pole vault (men) and the triple jump (women). On pole vault, Americans Chris Nilsen and KC Lightfoot had already confirmed their presence, like Benjamin Compaoré in the men’s triple jump and Aurel Manga, Olympic finalist in Tokyo, in the 60-meter hurdles.
March 7, deadline to bounce back
Following the latest government announcements, sales were initially halted, while the event continued. The puzzle of finding a new date begins for the organizers. They must face an obligation, namely to find this new meeting before March 7, the last day to qualify for the world championships which will take place in Belgrade (Serbia), from March 11 to 13, the 2022 edition.
The European Indoor Championships have been organized twice (1994 and 2011) in Bercy, with 11 medals for the Blues in each of these editions. Four world records were also broken there, the last of which was by Teddy Tamgho in 2011 with a triple jump to 17.92 m during the European Indoor Championships.