On the road to the Madrid 2025 European Athletics Team Championships from 27-29 June, we put the spotlight on perennial third-placers France who will be looking to return to the podium after a six-year absence after a resurgent Roma 2024 European Athletics Championships where La Marseillaise played out four times.
Flashback to 2023
Four-time overall bronze medallists France slumped to a seventh-place finish at the 2023 European Athletics Team Championships in Silesia, their lowest finish in 10 editions of the biennial championships.
However, there were still some bright moments for Les Bleus. Ryan Zeze won the men’s 200m in 20.29, defeating the likes of Filippo Tortu and soon-to-be European champion Timothé Mumenthaler for maximum points, and Nawal Meniker and Hilary Kpatcha also took key victories for France in the women’s high jump and long jump respectively.
Veteran Melina Robert-Michon also notched up her seventh top-three finish in the discus at the European Athletics Team Championships with a third-place finish.
Track record
- Leiria 2009, Portugal, Super League (3rd place)
France made the podium at the first iteration of the European Athletics Team Championships in Leiria albeit retroactively, moving from fourth to third in the overall standings following the disqualification of key members of the Russian team due to doping violations.
Arguably the most notable performance of the weekend came from Renaud Lavillenie who broke the 6.00m barrier in the pole vault for the first time, soaring over a world lead and a French record of 6.01m. This remains the championship record some 16 years later.
- Lille 2017, France, Super League (3rd place)
Renaud Lavillenie notched up his sixth victory in the pole vault on home soil in Lille, helping to propel France to yet another third-place finish overall behind Poland and overall champions Germany.
Other notable victories came from multiple European champion Mahiedine Mekhissi in the 3000m steeplechase and from Melina Robert-Michon in the discus.
- Bydgoszcz 2019, Poland, Super League (3rd place)
France’s last podium finish dates back to the 2019 edition of the European Athletics Team Championships in Bydgoszcz where they were edged out for second overall behind Germany by a mere point.
In total, France took six victories across the programme, including five in the women’s events. On the track, Carolle Zahi won maximum points in both the 100m and 4x100m and Renelle Lamote took victory in the 800m. Alexandra Tavernier and Alexie Alais also won the women’s hammer and javelin respectively.
Their sole victory on the men’s side came courtesy of Jimmy Vicaut who pipped soon-to-be Olympic champion Lamont Marcell Jacobs - who would also break Vicaut’s European record - in the 100m.
Five to watch…
- Alice Finot (women's 3000m steeplechase)
At 34, Alice Finot is coming off by far her best season to date which included European 3000m steeplechase gold in Rome and a fourth-place finish at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games where she broke the nine minute-barrier for the first time with a European record of 8:58.67.
And if she does claim maximum points in Madrid, the home crowd might claim a small part of her victory as Finot trains in Spain with a Spanish coach.
- Louise Maraval (women's 400m hurdles, 4x400m relay)
The bespectacled Louise Maraval is just as adept over the hurdles as she is when she has a baton in her hand. Maraval ran an incredible anchor leg for France to win gold at the 2023 European Athletics U23 Championships before making a big individual breakthrough last year, winning silver behind Femke Bol in the 400m hurdles in Rome 2024.
- Gabriel Tual (men's 800m)
With six athletes breaking the 1:45-barrier last year, France possesses an embarrassment of riches in their 800m ranks. But by far their shining light over the distance is Gabriel Tual who won European gold in Rome and took the French record down to a spectacular 1:41.61 to move to second on the European all-time list.
- Agathe Guillemot (women's 1500m)
Guillemot has been moving steadily up the middle distance ranks over the last two seasons and the 25-year-old upgraded her 1500m bronze at the Roman 2024 European Athletics Championships to a surprise gold medal at the Apeldoorn 2025 European Athletics Indoor Championships. Guillemot lowered the French record to 3:56.69 last year but the Frenchwoman is perhaps at her best in a championship environment.
- Yann Chaussinand (men's hammer)
The men’s hammer in the recent history of the European Athletics Team Championships has typically been dominated by the Polish duo of Wojciech Nowicki and Pawel Fajdek but Yann Chaussinand could claim maximum points in this instance. At the time of writing, Chaussinand tops the 2025 European list with a French record of 81.91m.
