World 10,000m champion Jimmy Gressier will race for the first time since triumphing in Tokyo in the famous Marseille to Cassis 20km on 26 October.
Gressier followed up his 10,000m gold medal at the World Athletics Championships with bronze in the 5000m and is one of three finalists for the men’s European Athlete of the Year award in 2025.
But after a busy and successful year which also included winning the European half marathon title in Brussels-Leuven and setting European records in the indoor 5000m (12:54.92) and road 5km (12:57), Gressier is unlikely to be chasing victory in the famous and historic race in the south of France which dates back to 1979.
According to the organisers, Gressier will be running “not for the sake of performance.” Instead, Gressier will be accompanying his long-time partner Aude Clavier, the French 5000m champion and European 3000m steeplechase finalist, without worrying about his time, place or position.
Gressier doesn’t possess an official 20km lifetime best but he did clock a 56:48 split en route to a fifth-place finish in the half marathon at the 2023 World Running Championships in Riga where he finished in 59:46.
Around 20,000 runners are due to compete in the Marseille-Cassis 20km.