France
2020
The European Championships France was meant to host were cancelled, the decathlon that was meant to happen in Talence was cancelled, and the best pole vault of the year took place in a garden. This is the season that mostly did not happen.
France's 2020 athletics season had no championship at all: the European Championships in Paris were cancelled in April, the Tokyo Games were postponed in March, the Meeting de Paris and the Décastar were struck off, and the only national title of the summer was decided in Albi in September. Its best-remembered moment is Renaud Lavillenie tying Armand Duplantis 36–36 in a pole vault held in his own garden.
This page lists what was held and what was cancelled, follows Lavillenie, Mayer and Tavernier through the empty year, and documents the Asics France kit of 2020 — one piece of which, the team running shorts, is in this archive.
Part of our Season Series — one year at a time. The full national story is in The History of Athletics in France. Jump to the 2020 kit or browse the collection.
- The cancellation
- European Championships, Paris, 25–30 Aug — cancelled outright on 23–24 April
- The postponement
- Tokyo Olympics moved to 2021 on 24 March; World Indoors moved on 29 January
- Also struck off
- Meeting de Paris (26 June), Décastar (11 May), Paris Marathon (12 August)
- The garden
- Ultimate Garden Clash, 3 May: Lavillenie 36 clearances, Duplantis 36, Kendricks 26
- The one championship
- French Championships, Albi, 12–13 September — the only outdoor title of the year
- The records
- Tavernier hammer 74.94 (Lyon, 11 July) then 75.24 (Kladno); Gressier 13:18 for 5 km (Monaco, 16 February)
- The kit
- Asics, supplier from 1 Jan 2013, extended to the end of 2021 — adidas from 1 Jan 2022
- In the archive
- One piece marked 2020: the men's team running shorts
A Season Defined by What Was Struck Off
France was supposed to host the 2020 European Championships at Charléty from 25 to 30 August. On 23 and 24 April the organisers and the federation cancelled them outright — not postponed, as Tokyo had been a month earlier on 24 March, but removed from the calendar. The Meeting de Paris went the same way on 26 June after one attempt to move it to September; the Décastar in Talence, the meeting where Kevin Mayer had set his world record two years earlier, was cancelled on 11 May; the Paris Marathon was moved from April to November and then cancelled on 12 August.
- 19 FebMeeting de LiévinInternational indoor meetingHeld
- 29 FebFrench Indoor Championships, Liévin49th editionHeld
- 13–15 MarWorld Indoor Championships, NanjingPostponed on 29 JanuaryPostponed
- 5 AprParis MarathonMoved to 15 Nov, then cancelled on 12 AugCancelled
- 3 MayUltimate Garden ClashPole vault from three back gardensHeld
- 13 JunMeeting de Paris, CharlétyMoved to 6 Sep, then cancelled on 26 JunCancelled
- 24 JulTokyo Olympic GamesPostponed on 24 March to 2021Postponed
- 14 AugHerculis, MonacoDiamond League, reshaped seasonHeld
- 25–30 AugEuropean Championships, ParisCancelled on 23–24 April, not postponedCancelled
- 12–13 SepFrench Championships, AlbiThe one national title of the summerHeld
- 19–20 SepDécastar, TalenceCancelled on 11 MayCancelled
Hover or tab on a row for the date of each decision. Sources: European Athletics and World Athletics notices, the FFA calendar, Olympics.com, AFP and L'Équipe reports (see Sources). Verified September 2026.
The 2020 fixture list, in a table
| Planned date | Fixture | What happened |
|---|---|---|
| 19 Feb | Meeting de Liévin | Held — International indoor meeting |
| 29 Feb | French Indoor Championships, Liévin | Held — 49th edition |
| 13–15 Mar | World Indoor Championships, Nanjing | Postponed — Postponed on 29 January |
| 5 Apr | Paris Marathon | Cancelled — Moved to 15 Nov, then cancelled on 12 Aug |
| 3 May | Ultimate Garden Clash | Held — Pole vault from three back gardens |
| 13 Jun | Meeting de Paris, Charléty | Cancelled — Moved to 6 Sep, then cancelled on 26 Jun |
| 24 Jul | Tokyo Olympic Games | Postponed — Postponed on 24 March to 2021 |
| 14 Aug | Herculis, Monaco | Held — Diamond League, reshaped season |
| 25–30 Aug | European Championships, Paris | Cancelled — Cancelled on 23–24 April, not postponed |
| 12–13 Sep | French Championships, Albi | Held — The one national title of the summer |
| 19–20 Sep | Décastar, Talence | Cancelled — Cancelled on 11 May |
What survived was the winter and one weekend in September. Liévin held its international meeting on 19 February — Armand Duplantis cleared 6.07 m there, eleven days after his first world record in Toruń, and Pascal Martinot-Lagarde ran 7.47 in the 60 m hurdles — and the French indoor championships at the end of the month. Then nothing with a national title on it until Albi, 12–13 September, where the French championships were run in a stripped-down format: Alessia Zarbo took the 5000 m in 15:56.40 and Frédéric Dagée the shot put with 19.74 m.
Thirty Minutes in a Garden
The image of the French season is a back garden in Clermont-Ferrand. On 3 May 2020, with every stadium shut, World Athletics staged the Ultimate Garden Clash: Renaud Lavillenie in his garden, Armand Duplantis in his parents' in Lafayette, Louisiana, and Sam Kendricks in Oxford, Mississippi, each with a runway and a bar at 5.00 m, scored on the number of clearances in thirty minutes. Lavillenie and Duplantis tied on 36; Kendricks made 26. “I was really missing the feeling I get competing,” Lavillenie said afterwards.
It was the only time all year the two best vaulters in the world competed against each other with a French flag in the frame, and it counted for nothing. Duplantis went on to clear 6.15 m in Rome in September, the outdoor record of the day. Lavillenie, 33 that season, is still competing in 2026 — he was in the field at the Diamond League meeting in Lausanne this summer — which is worth saying, because the retirement rumours that circulate every August have so far all been wrong.
The rest of the summer came in single nights. Monaco went ahead on 14 August as the Diamond League's reshaped opener: Joshua Cheptegei broke the 5000 m world record, and the French interest was Marvin René and Mouhamadou Fall in the 200 m, seventh and eighth. On the roads, Jimmy Gressier had opened the year in Monaco on 16 February with 13:18 for 5 km, a European best at the time, and Morhad Amdouni closed it in Gdynia at the World Half Marathon Championships on 17 October with 59:40 for eighth place.
The Decathlon That Did Not Happen
Kevin Mayer did not contest a decathlon in 2020. The world record holder's home meeting was struck off in May, no championship replaced it, and on 16 June he announced a split from his coach. The next full decathlon he completed was the silver-medal one in Tokyo, thirteen months later.
His record survived the empty year and every year since: the 9126 points from Talence in September 2018 are still the world record in 2026. Mayer himself has had a harder road. A near-total rupture of a hamstring tendon in July 2024 cost him the Paris Games, he wrote off the whole of 2025 to rehabilitation rather than surgery, and he returned to competition at the Interclubs in Lunel on 3 May 2026 before easing off again ahead of the European Championships in Birmingham. He is 34, still active, and still the record holder.
One more mark from the empty year belongs here. Alexandra Tavernier threw the hammer 74.94 m in Lyon on 11 July 2020, her first meeting after lockdown and a French record then, and improved it to 75.24 m in Kladno later that season — two national records in a year with no championship to throw them at.
From this season · in the archiveAsics France International Team Pro Elite 2020 Running ShortsAsics France team running shorts from the 2020 allocation — dark blue with the white FFA cockerel on one leg and the Asics spiral on the other, issued for a summer that had almost nowhere to send them.60,00 €View piece →The Asics France Kit
The piece we hold from this season is the men's running shorts: dark blue, split-hem, with a mesh yoke at the back, the white FFA cockerel and FRANCE on the left leg and the Asics spiral on the right. The label reads Made in China; the shorts are a size L, team-issued and worn by a professional athlete. That is the kit the French team would have raced in at Charléty in August 2020.
Asics dressed the Fédération Française d'Athlétisme from 1 January 2013, on a four-year deal that replaced adidas after four decades, and the contract was extended in 2016 to run through 2021. The 2020 allocation is therefore the second-to-last Asics issue: a year later the brand's time was up, and adidas returned on 1 January 2022.
The Asics years on either side of this one are in our France 2019 page, the season of Doha, and France 2021, the last Asics season and the Tokyo silver; the whole national arc is in our history of athletics in France.
France 2020
The piece marked for the 2020 allocation — Asics federation kit issued for a championship summer that was cancelled before it began. Team allocation, never retail.
Did France host the 2020 European Athletics Championships?
No. They were scheduled for Charléty in Paris from 25 to 30 August 2020 and were cancelled outright on 23–24 April 2020, not postponed. The next European Championships were Munich 2022.
What was the Ultimate Garden Clash?
A pole vault competition held on 3 May 2020 with the stadiums closed: Renaud Lavillenie in his garden in Clermont-Ferrand, Armand Duplantis in Louisiana and Sam Kendricks in Mississippi, each clearing a bar at 5.00 m as many times as possible in thirty minutes. Lavillenie and Duplantis tied on 36, Kendricks made 26.
Did Kevin Mayer compete in 2020?
Not in a decathlon. The Décastar in Talence was cancelled on 11 May and no championship replaced it; he split from his coach in June. His 9126-point world record from 2018 still stands in 2026, and after missing 2025 with a hamstring tendon injury he returned to competition in May 2026.
Which brand made the France 2020 athletics kit?
Asics, the federation's supplier from 1 January 2013 through the end of 2021. The France collection holds the men's team running shorts of the 2020 allocation.
Sources and References
- European Athletics — Paris 2020 European Championships cancelled — the cancellation, not a postponement
- Olympics.com — Tokyo 2020 postponed — the 24 March 2020 decision
- World Athletics — Ultimate Garden Clash report — the format, the 36–36–26 result and Lavillenie’s words
- FFA — Championnats de France Elite, Albi 2020 — the venue and dates of the one championship of the summer
- RTBF — the Décastar cancelled (11 May 2020) — no decathlon for Mayer in 2020
- Sortiraparis — Meeting de Paris 2020 cancelled — the 26 June decision after one postponement
- Olympics.com (FR) — Tavernier’s French record in Lyon — the 74.94 m of 11 July 2020
- FFA — Gressier’s European 5 km best in Monaco — the 13:18 of 16 February 2020
- Sport Buzz Business — Asics extends with the FFA to 2021 — the 2016 extension through 2021
- FashionNetwork — Asics replaces adidas at the FFA (2013) — the 1 January 2013 start of the Asics contract
- FFA — Mayer sits out 2025 — the hamstring tendon injury and the year of rehabilitation