France
2015
Second in Europe in March, 31st in the world in August: the French 2015 lost four stars to the infirmary before Beijing — and still left behind a 9.86 that has never been beaten, on the last night its sponsor ever had.
France's 2015 season ended with two bronzes at the Beijing World Championships — Lavillenie's shared three ways, a first in Worlds history, and 21-year-old Alexandra Tavernier's in the hammer — after injuries took Mayer, Tamgho, Mekhissi and Diniz out of the team before the start.
This is the season lane by lane: the Prague indoor sweep, the infirmary, the Beijing finals — and the night of 4 July, when Jimmy Vicaut ran 9.86 at the last Meeting Areva ever held, in the Asics France kit this archive holds three pieces of.
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 2015 kit or browse the collection.
- The championships
- World Championships, Beijing, 22–30 August 2015 — 36 French athletes
- The result
- 2 bronzes, 31st in the medal table — five months after finishing 2nd at the European Indoors
- The shared podium
- Lavillenie's bronze at 5.80, split three ways — a first in Worlds history
- The newcomer
- Tavernier, 21: hammer bronze with 74.02 after a 74.39 PB in qualifying
- The record
- Vicaut 9.86, Meeting Areva, 4 July — still the French record in 2026
- The infirmary
- Mekhissi (April) · Tamgho (May) · Diniz (July) · Mayer (August) — all out of Beijing
- The frozen record
- Diniz's 50 km walk WR (3:32:33, 2014) — never beaten, and the event is gone
- The farewell
- Areva, sponsor since 2009, left after 2015 — the 9.86 fell at its last meeting
The Winter That Promised Everything
The French 2015 season opened as if a golden year had been booked. At the European Indoor Championships in Prague in March, France finished second in the medal table with three golds, a silver and a bronze — and one of the strangest podiums the 60 m hurdles has produced: Pascal Martinot-Lagarde, Dimitri Bascou and Wilhem Belocian went one-two-three, the whole national sweep separated by three hundredths of a second. Renaud Lavillenie added pole vault gold at 6.04, a championship record, and the women's 4×400 — Guéï, Diarra, Raharolahy, Gayot — took a third title.
Three days after Prague closed, Yohann Diniz walked a 20 kilometre world record of 1:17:02 at the French championships in Arles. It lasted one week before Yusuke Suzuki took it away — but Diniz's other world record, the 3:32:33 over 50 kilometres from Zürich 2014, was untouched then and is untouched still in 2026. It is now effectively frozen for good: the 50 kilometre walk has been dropped from the championship programme, which leaves Diniz the fastest man ever over the distance, permanently.
The Lanes to Beijing
Then the season started subtracting Frenchmen. Mahiedine Mekhissi-Benabbad, the great steeplechaser, had foot surgery in early April and lost the entire summer. Teddy Tamgho ruptured his Achilles mid run-up in Doha in May, on his comeback. In July, Diniz withdrew from the Worlds with a groin ligament injury that needed surgery. And fifteen days before the opening ceremony, Kévin Mayer — a genuine medal contender in the decathlon — tore his glute. Four of the team's biggest names never made the start line in Beijing.
Hover or tab onto a lane for the detail. The dotted line is the Beijing final week, 22–30 August.
The eight lanes — table view
| Athlete | Event | 2015 before Beijing | Beijing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Renaud Lavillenie | Pole vault | Prague gold 6.04 CR · 6.05 career best | Bronze — 5.80, shared three ways |
| Alexandra Tavernier | Hammer | — | Bronze — 74.02, aged 21 |
| Jimmy Vicaut | 100 m | 9.86 NR, Meeting Areva, 4 July | 8th in the final — 10.00 |
| Pierre-Ambroise Bosse | 800 m | — | 5th — 1:46.63 |
| Kévin Mayer | Decathlon | Torn glute, August | Did not compete |
| Yohann Diniz | 50 km walk | 20 km WR 1:17:02 in March · groin injury, July | Did not compete |
| Teddy Tamgho | Triple jump | Achilles rupture, May | Did not compete |
| Mahiedine Mekhissi | Steeplechase | Foot surgery, April | Did not compete |
What survived brought back two bronzes, and France finished 31st in the medal table with 36 athletes entered. Lavillenie, the world record holder who had won everything for two years, failed three times at 5.90 and shared bronze at 5.80 with the Poles Piotr Lisek and Paweł Wojciechowski — identical cards, the first three-way bronze in the history of the Worlds pole vault. The other medal belonged to a 21-year-old: Alexandra Tavernier threw 74.02 in the hammer final, having set a 74.39 personal best in qualifying. Jimmy Vicaut reached the 100 m final and crossed eighth in 10.00; Pierre-Ambroise Bosse was fifth over 800; Christophe Lemaitre went out in the early rounds of both sprints.
A 9.86 on the Sponsor’s Last Night
The night the season should be remembered for came on 4 July at the Stade de France. Jimmy Vicaut ran 9.86 — second behind Asafa Powell — obliterating Lemaitre's French record of 9.92 and equalling Francis Obikwelu's European record from Athens 2004. In August 2026 the 9.86 is still the French record; the European mark has since moved to Marcell Jacobs's 9.80, which leaves Vicaut joint second on the continent's all-time list.
The meeting it happened at was itself saying goodbye. Areva — the state nuclear group that had been title sponsor of the Paris meeting and main sponsor of French athletics since 2009 — had announced in December 2014, after posting 4.8 billion euros of losses, that it would not renew and that the partnership would end by the close of 2015. The 4 July meeting was the last ever run under the Areva name; from 2016 the event became simply the Meeting de Paris. Vicaut's 9.86 was the parting gift: the fastest 100 m by a European in over a decade, on the sponsor's final night.
The sponsor's last summer · in the archiveAsics Areva France Pro Elite 2015 Lightweight JacketTeam-issue Asics jacket carrying the Areva mark — worn in the final season of the sponsorship that had named French athletics' biggest night since 2009.80,00 €View piece →The Asics France 2015 Kit
The kit of this season carries both stories. Asics had taken over as outfitter of the French federation in January 2013 — ending a forty-year adidas era — and dressed the team in the navy and white of the era through 2021. The three French pieces in this archive are all from the 2015 allocation: storm pants, a lightweight team jacket, and a second lightweight jacket carrying the Areva mark — team clothing from the sponsor's final summer, a closed chapter stitched onto the cloth.
We describe the 2015 design from the garments themselves — team-spec Asics warm-up pieces in the navy-and-white family of the era — and date the Areva jacket by its own branding: after 2015, no French team kit carried that mark again.
Asics France 2015 · in the archiveAsics France Pro Elite 2015 Storm PantsStorm pants from the same French team allocation — the warm-up layer of the Beijing cycle.60,00 €View piece →Where the story goes from here — Mayer's world records, the Vicaut record that still stands, the federation's return to adidas — is told in our history of athletics in France.
France 2015
Three pieces from the French team's 2015 allocation — storm pants, a lightweight jacket, and the Areva-marked jacket from the sponsor's final summer. Asics-era France kit with a hard closing date: after 2015, no French team piece carried the Areva name again.
How did France do at the 2015 World Championships in Beijing?
Two medals, both bronze, and 31st in the medal table from 36 athletes: Renaud Lavillenie in the pole vault — a bronze shared three ways at 5.80, a first in Worlds history — and 21-year-old Alexandra Tavernier in the hammer with 74.02. Jimmy Vicaut was eighth in the 100 m final and Pierre-Ambroise Bosse fifth over 800 m.
Why did France underperform in Beijing in 2015?
Injuries removed four of its biggest names before the start: Mekhissi-Benabbad (foot surgery in April), Tamgho (Achilles rupture in May), Diniz (groin injury in July) and Mayer (torn glute fifteen days out). Five months earlier, at the Prague European Indoors, France had finished second in the medal table with a one-two-three in the 60 m hurdles.
Is Jimmy Vicaut’s 9.86 still the French record?
Yes. Run on 4 July 2015 at the Meeting Areva — and repeated in 2016 — it equalled Francis Obikwelu’s European record and still leads the French all-time list in 2026. The European record has since passed to Marcell Jacobs at 9.80.
What was the Meeting Areva?
The Paris Diamond League meeting at the Stade de France, named for Areva, main sponsor of French athletics from 2009. After 4.8 billion euros of losses in 2014, Areva announced its exit; the 4 July 2015 edition — the night of Vicaut’s 9.86 — was the last under that name, and from 2016 the event became the Meeting de Paris.
What happened to Yohann Diniz in 2015?
He set a 20 km race walk world record of 1:17:02 in March — it lasted a week — then withdrew from Beijing in July with a groin injury needing surgery. His 50 km world record of 3:32:33 from 2014 has never been beaten, and with the event dropped from the championship programme it is now frozen for good.
What kit did France wear in 2015?
Asics, the federation’s outfitter from January 2013 to 2021, in the navy-and-white of the era. The France collection holds three pieces of the 2015 allocation — including a team jacket with the Areva mark from the sponsor’s final season.
Sources and References
- Wikipedia — France at the 2015 World Championships — the two bronzes, the 31st place, and every Beijing result quoted
- World Athletics — Beijing 2015 men’s pole vault report — the three-way bronze at 5.80 — a first in Worlds history
- Wikipedia — 2015 European Indoor Championships — Prague: second in the medal table, the hurdles one-two-three, Lavillenie’s 6.04
- Wikipedia — Yohann Diniz — the 20 km world record of March 2015, the July withdrawal, and the 50 km record’s history
- Dico du Sport — Vicaut’s 9.86 — the 4 July 2015 run at the Meeting Areva, equalling the European record
- Stratégies — Areva leaves athletics — the December 2014 exit announcement after the 4.8 billion euro loss
- Wikipedia (FR) — Meeting Areva — the sponsorship from 2009 and the renaming to Meeting de Paris in 2016
- Wikipedia — Teddy Tamgho / Mahiedine Mekhissi-Benabbad — the Doha Achilles rupture; Mekhissi’s April foot surgery on his own page
- World Athletics — Mayer out of Beijing — the torn glute fifteen days before the championships
- athle.fr — Asics unveils the France team kit — Asics as federation outfitter from January 2013