Christophe Lemaitre

Christophe Lemaitre
Lemaitre during the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro
Personal information
Born (1990-06-11) 11 June 1990
Annecy, France
Home townAix-les-Bains
Height1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)
Weight82 kg (181 lb)
Sport
CountryFrance
SportAthletics
Event(s)100 metres, 200 m
ClubAthlétique Sport Aixois
Achievements and titles
Personal bests100 m: 9.92 (Albi 2011)
200 m: 19.80 NR (Daegu 2011)
Medal record
Men's athletics
Representing  France
Olympic Games
2012 London4 × 100 m relay
2016 Rio de Janeiro200 m
World Championships
2011 Daegu4 × 100 m relay
2011 Daegu200 m
European Championships
2010 Barcelona100 m
2010 Barcelona200 m
2010 Barcelona4 × 100 m relay
2012 Helsinki100 m
2014 Zürich100 m
2014 Zürich200 m
2012 Helsinki4 × 100 m relay
2014 Zürich4 × 100 m relay
European Indoor Championships
2011 Paris60 m
World Junior Championships
2008 Bydgoszcz200 m
European Junior Championships
2009 Novi Sad100 m
Representing Europe
Continental Cup
2010 Split100 m
2014 Marrakech4 × 100 m relay

Christophe Lemaitre (French pronunciation: [kʁistɔf ləmɛtʁ]; born 11 June 1990) is a former French sprinter who specialised in the 100 and 200 metres. In 2010, Lemaitre became the first white athlete to break the 10-second barrier in an officially timed 100 m event. Lemaitre has run a sub-10 second 100 m on seven occasions: three times in 2010 and four times in 2011. He won a bronze medal in the 4 × 100 m relay at the 2012 London Olympic Games and in the 200 metres at the Rio 2016 Summer Olympics.

At the age of 20, Lemaitre won the 100 m, 200 m and the 4 × 100 m relay titles at the 2010 European Championships, the first French sprinter ever to achieve that triple. He was the fastest European 100 m and 200 m sprinter in 2010. He won a bronze medal in the 200 m at the 2011 World Championships. As of August 2013, Lemaitre was one of the three Frenchmen (the other two are Ronald Pognon and Jimmy Vicaut) to have broken the 10-second barrier in the 100 metres outdoor.

Due to injury and a negative reaction to his COVID-19 vaccination, Lemaitre did not compete in the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.