France 4x100m relay team new coaching staff and training camp at INSEP, Digi Mart USA News (Paris, France): A gathering of athletes competing for places in the France 4x100m relay squads was held this weekend at INSEP. The occasion allowed the newly appointed staff to introduce themselves and lay the groundwork for a new way of working, with a clear goal: to field competitive relay teams at the 2027 World Championships in Beijing and, above all, at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games.
Renaud Longuèvre, named head coach of the relay by the Federation, will be assisted by Ladji Doucouré, Christophe Lemaitre and Fabé Dia as assistant coaches. Saturday, November 7, the trio spoke to around twenty sprinters and their personal coaches at the Pierre de Coubertin amphitheater at INSEP, during the first gathering of athletes competing for places in the France 4x100m squads.
Longuèvre, who has led French sprint coaching since late September, said the three former internationals could serve as a source of inspiration for current relay runners. “Having lived their daily routine in the past and showing them the correct technique in training, they will also have a valuable connection with them,” he said.
Shortly afterward, the group held a first training session at the Halle Joseph-Maigrot, sheltered from the Paris cold. The hall is named after the coach who was the driving force behind the international relay medals won by the French team in the 1960s.
The assistant coaches delivered instructions and advice in a cheerful atmosphere to athletes including Ryan Zézé, Hélène Parisot and Chloé Galet. Given that preparation has only just begun and athletes are in a phase of base endurance work, the session focused on basic baton-exchange drills.
Christophe Lemaitre said he did not expect to return to athletics so soon, but that he had always valued the relay and considers it a discipline in its own right. He hopes to share his experience.
Ladji Doucouré, who said the relay has shaped his career, told the athletes he wanted them to enjoy the adventure with their teammates and create their own story. Fabé Dia said she was very proud and wanted to pass on what the 4x100m has to offer in terms of emotion.
Longuèvre also outlined the main objectives for the two seasons ahead, after a background briefing from national technical director Frank Bignet. Bignet said the decision not to select the three 4x100m relays for the European Championships in Birmingham had been difficult, reflecting the Federation’s ambitions and the need to keep progressing, while noting that nothing is fixed in high-level sport, as shown by the recent momentum of the men’s 4x400m.
For 2027, the goal is for all three relays to reach the final at the World Championships in Beijing, Longuèvre said. About six weeks of joint preparation are planned between now and September 2027.
In 2028, the three squads must qualify for the Los Angeles Olympics.
Among other changes, the men’s and women’s relay groups have been merged, a move the head coach linked to the emergence of the mixed relay, which requires adaptation. Longuèvre paid tribute to his predecessors leading the 4x100m, Richard Cursaz and Franck Né.
Male and female sprinters were also invited to train together during the first joint session, working on baton-exchange automatisms, which he described as a symbolic new start.
Ladji Doucouré (43) is the only French athlete to have won two gold medals at the same World Championships, in Helsinki in 2005, where he won the 110m hurdles and was part of the 4x100m team that won the title in a near-universal surprise. Christophe Lemaitre (36) is the French athlete with the most medals in European Athletics Championships history outdoors, with eight podiums including four titles, several of them won on the relay.
Fabé Dia (49), capped 27 times for France between 1995 and 2005, competed on the 4x100m several times, including at the 1999 World Championships in Seville and the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
