At 85, France’s Jean-Louis Esnault exhibits no indicators of stopping. On Thursday on the World Masters Athletics Indoor (WMAi) Championships in Gainesville, Fla, Esnault set a brand new world document within the males’s (85-89) 3,000m occasion, working 13:39.24 (ratification pending) and besting the previous document of 13:41.96, set in 2016 by the Canadian masters legend, the late Ed Whitlock, by greater than two and a half minutes. Esnault adopted that dazzling efficiency by throwing down within the 1,500m on Saturday, working 6:08.47 to raised the previous document of 6:38.87, additionally set by Whitlock in 2016.
Even other than his world document achievements, Esnault’s leads to Florida are astounding, the place he took first (within the 85-89 division) within the 60m hurdles, 200m, 400m and 800m occasions, and a second-place end within the 6,000m.
Esnault is understood for his resilience and flexibility and has racked up quite a few accolades over his time as a masters athlete. In 2022, coinciding along with his fiftieth marriage ceremony anniversary, Esnault secured two gold medals on the World Masters Championships in Tampere, Finland: one within the 400m, setting a European document, and one other within the 2,000m steeplechase; on the 2023 European Masters Championships in Pescara, Italy, Esnault bagged 4 particular person golds and a staff bronze, competing in occasions starting from the 200m hurdles to the ten,000m. He has additionally competed in additional than 60 marathons and contributes a few of his success to a wholesome, however average, way of life. “Good meals and alcohol are tolerated to some extent at an age the place you’ll be able to nonetheless indulge your self,” he instructed worldmastersathletics.org.
Canada’s Wendy Alexis smashes world document, twice
On Friday, Ottawa’s Wendy Alexis ran 30.33 within the W65 200m closing, additionally on the WMAi Championships in Gainesville, Fla., setting a brand new W70 world document. Since Alexis turned 70 after the competitors had already begun, she competed within the W65 age class, however her time qualifies for a W70 document. Her time surpassed a document she had set solely a day earlier than.
Alexis had already made historical past within the preliminary spherical when she gained her warmth in 30.68—smashing the previous world document of 31.17 and eclipsing Karla Del Grande’s Canadian document of 31.18. Fellow Canadian Renata Macherzynska additionally superior to the semi-final after clocking 31.65; (Macherzynska completed sixth, in 31.70, within the closing.)
On Monday, March twenty fourth, Alexis added one other title to her title, successful the W65 60m closing in 8.95 after working 8.98 within the heats. She was joined on the rostrum by Puerto Rico’s Marie-Lande Mathieu (9.02) and the U.S.’s Carol Robertson (9.17). Macherzynska narrowly missed a medal, ending fourth in 9.21.