In the week where he spoke about running at the European Athletics Championships in Amsterdam, Jimmy Vicaut has now become the name on the lips of every sprinter in the world.
With a blistering performance on his home track in Montreuil on Tuesday night at the Pro Athlé Tour meet, a European Athletics Classic Meeting, Frenchman Vicaut equalled the European 100m record of 9.86, a time he already shared with Portugal's Francis Obikwelu.
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It is the fastest in the world this year - double Olympic champion Usain Bolt has run a best of 9.98 - and follows on from his 9.99 in Rome last week.
But caution came quickly with the delight, after a taking control from lane five and bursting through to win ahead of Wilfried Koffi (10.10), of the Ivory Coast, and Great Britain's James Ellington (10.11).
'This stopwatch does not mean anything,' Vicaut, 24, told L'equipe. 'Last year I ran 9.86, yet I finished eighth at the world championships. It's still two months from Rio and all the best sprinters will be ready.'
'I'm proud to have run 9.86 twice at the age of 24. Seeing Kim Collins run 9.93 at 40 shows that I still have time to improve,' he said.
Others, though, will stand up and take notice again of Vicaut's presence in this Olympic year after he broke the meeting record of 9.95 held by Jamaica's Yohan Blake.
The 2012 European 100m silver medallist was determined to make up for mistakes he made at the start and end of his run in Rome and he did just that, 11 months on from running 9.86 in Paris for the first time.
Obikwelu set that mark at the Olympic Games in Athens 2004 when he won silver but no European has made the podium since.
Now Vicaut becomes a major contender and with the tension even higher against the power and speed of the likes of Bolt in an Olympic final, he could become the sole owner of the European record.
He will run again next Tuesday in Lucerne and if he decides to compete in the 100m in Amsterdam, it would be something quite special as he aims to win his first outdoor gold at a major championship.
EUROPE'S FASTEST MEN
1. Francis Obikwelu (POR) 9.86 (22 Aug 2004)
1. Jimmy Vicaut (FRA) 9.86 (4 Jul 2015/7 Jun 2016)
3. Linford Christie (GBR) 9.87 (15 Aug 1993)
4. Churandy Martina (NED) 9.91 (5 Aug 2012)
4. James Dasaolu (GBR) 9.91 (13 Jul 2013)
6. Christophe Lemaitre (FRA) 9.92 (29 Jul 2011)
Most wind-legal sub-10 100m clockings by European sprinters:
— European Athletics (@EuroAthletics) June 8, 2016
Vicaut 14
Christie 9
Obikwelu 8
Lemaitre 7
Martina 6 pic.twitter.com/9KCXUGnwgU