01/01/2018   Yohann Diniz (FRA): forty years and looking younger






Today Yohann Diniz celebrates its fortieth birthday.

 
Celebrate this day as World Champion in charge is not a trivial matter, and even less recently is the expectation of a particularly high level European season.
 
The story of Yohann Diniz on the 50 km tells us in particular of his three consecutive victories at the European Championships that went from 2006 to 2014, interspersed in 2007 and 2013 with victories in the 50km of the European Cup of Race Walk, and from the silver to the Championships Osaka World Championships 2017.
 

Pos. Competition Venue Result Date
         
1. Zürich European Championships Zürich (SUI) 3:32:33 15.08.2014
1. Barcelona European Championships Barcelona (ESP) 3:40:37 30.07.2010
1. Göteborg European Championships Göteborg (SWE) 3:41:39 10.08.2006

 

This year just finished, 10 years after that silver, Diniz was able to a better performance than that of Osaka (JPN) by as much as 11:10.


Pos. Competition Venue Result Date
         
1. London IAAF World Championships in Athletics London (GBR) 3:33:12 13.08.2017
2. Osaka IAAF World Championships Osaka (JPN) 3:44:22 01.09.2007

 

 
Of course the weather conditions in Osaka were not as favorable as those of London 2017, but eleven minutes and ten seconds are a big gap, and not to underestimate the fact that at 39 years Diniz graduates the oldest World Champion of 50km of the history.
 
Impressive his progression from Gothenburg 2006 to London 2017 over a period of 11 years.
At Gotebord 2006 his 3:41:49 was equal to 1220 points in the table of the IAAF scores, today his 3:32:33 is equal to 1265 points.
 
 
To make a comparison with the 100m floors we like to remember what is shown in the following table
 
 

Year Best performance Ateletr Venue Date Points
           
2006 9.77 Asafa Powell (JAM) Zurich (SUI) 18.08.2006 1295
2017 9.82 Christian Coleman (USA) Eugene (USA) 07.06.2017 1269

 

If Diniz's goal for 2018 is that of the fourth consecutive European title, and that of becoming the oldest European 50km Champion, probably in Berlin we will see one of his most exciting races.
 

 

Meanwhile, best wishes Yohann!