Martial Mbandjock (born 14 October 1985 in

Roubaix Roubaix ( or ; nl, Robaais; vls, Roboais) is a city in northern France, located in the Lille metropolitan area on the Belgian border. It is a historically mono-industrial commune in the Nord department, which grew rapidly in the 19th century ...

) is a French sprinter who specializes in the

100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been conteste ...

., beijing2008.cn, ret: Aug 26, 2008 His personal best time is 10.06 seconds, achieved in July 2008 in

Albi Albi (; oc, Albi ) is a commune in southern France. It is the prefecture of the Tarn department, on the river Tarn, 85 km northeast of Toulouse. Its inhabitants are called ''Albigensians'' (french: Albigeois, Albigeoise(s), oc, albig� ...

. He won the bronze medal in the 100 m at the

2007 European Athletics U23 Championships The 6th European Athletics U23 Championships was held between 12 and 15 July 2007 in the Gyulai István Athletic Stadium in Debrecen, Hungary. Results Complete results and medal winners were published. Men Women †: In discus ...

and reached the quarterfinals at the 2007 World Championships later that year. He got to the semifinals at the 2008 World Indoor Championships and the 2008 Olympic Games. He won his first national title at the outdoor French championships, running a personal best of 10.06 seconds in the 100 m, helped by good running conditions with a 1.7 m/s

tailwind A tailwind is a wind that blows in the direction of travel of an object, while a headwind blows against the direction of travel. A tailwind increases the object's speed and reduces the time required to reach its destination, while a headwind has ...

. At the

2008 Beijing Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nat ...

he competed at the 100 metres sprint and placed second in his heat behind Richard Thompson in a time of 10.26 seconds. He qualified for the second round in which he improved his time to 10.16 seconds, finishing third behind Thompson and

Tyson Gay Tyson Gay (born August 9, 1982) is an American track and field sprinter who competes in the 100 and 200 meters. His 100 m personal best of 9.69 seconds is the American record and makes him tied for the second fastest athlete over 100 m ...

, reaching the semi-finals. There he was unable to achieve his final spot as he finished in 8th place in 10.18 seconds. Together with

Yannick Lesourd Yannick Lesourd (born 3 April 1988 in Dreux) is a track and field sprint athlete who competes internationally for France.Manuel Reynaert Manuel Reynaert (born 5 June 1985 in Saint-Pol-sur-Mer, Nord) is a track and field sprint athlete who competes internationally for France., beijing2008.cn, ret: Aug 29, 2008 Reynaert represented France at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. H ...

and

Samuel Coco-Viloin Samuel Coco-Viloin (born 19 October 1987 in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine)Team Fra ...

he also competed at the 4x100 metres relay. In their qualification heat they finished sixth in a time of 39.53 seconds, which meant elimination. In the 2009 season, Mbandjock began with modest times between 10.20 and 10.30 seconds. He improved to 10.11 at a meeting in

Nancy, France Nancy ; Lorraine Franconian: ''Nanzisch'' is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the northeastern Departments of France, French department of Meurthe-et-Moselle. It was the capital of the Duchy of Lorraine, which was Lorraine and Barrois, an ...

in June, achieving the A standard qualifying time for the 2009 World Championships in Berlin later that year. Despite finishing out of the medals in fourth in the 100 m, he set a personal best of 20.67 seconds in the 200 m to take bronze at the

2009 European Team Championships The first European Athletics Team Championships took place on 20 and 21 June 2009. The track and field athletics tournament run by European Athletics was the successor of the old European Cup competition which was held annually until 2008. The Ch ...

. He won his first major gold shortly after with a win in the 100 m at the 2009 Mediterranean Games.Sampaolo, Diego (2009-07-02)
High Jump and Discus Throw provide best results - Mediterranean Games, Day 2

IAAF World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body for ...

. Retrieved on 2009-07-02. 100 m men final Barcelona 2010

He competed in three events at the 2009 World Championships: he finished sixth in the 100 metres semi-finals, the second best performance by a European after finalist

Dwain Chambers Dwain Anthony Chambers (born 5 April 1978) is a British track sprinter. He has won international medals at World and European levels and is one of the fastest European sprinters in the history of athletics. His primary event is the 100 me ...

. Next came the 200 metres competition, where he recorded a personal best of 20.43 seconds in his semi-final for fifth place. He was eliminated at that stage, although he ran faster than compatriot

David Alerte David Alerte (born 18 September 1984 in La Trinité, Martinique) is a French sprinter who specializes in the 200 metres. At the 2006 European Championships in Gothenburg he finished seventh in the 200 metres and won a bronze medal in the 4 x ...

who did reach the final via the other semi-final. His final competition of the championships was with France in the

4 x 100 metres relay 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest c ...

. The team reached the final and placed in eighth. At the

2010 European Athletics Championships The 2010 European Athletics Championships were the 20th edition of the European Athletics Championships, organised under the supervision of the European Athletic Association. They were held at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys in Barcelona, Cat ...

, Mbandjock had a significant breakthrough, winning bronze medals in both the 100 m and 200 m, as well as a gold in the relay – although his achievements were somewhat overshadowed by his compatriot Christophe Lemaitre, who won all three races.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mbandjock, Martial 1985 births Living people French male sprinters Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for France French sportspeople of Cameroonian descent Sportspeople from Roubaix European Athletics Championships medalists Mediterranean Games gold medalists for France Athletes (track and field) at the 2009 Mediterranean Games Mediterranean Games medalists in athletics 20th-century French people 21st-century French people