Christophe Lemaitre
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Christophe Lemaitre (; born 11 June 1990) is a French sprinter who specialises in the
100 100 or one hundred ( Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101. In medieval contexts, it may be described as the short hundred or five score in order to differentiate the English and Germanic use of "hundred" to de ...
and
200 metres The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slightl ...
. In 2010, Lemaitre became the first white athlete to break the
10-second barrier The 10-second barrier is the physical and psychological barrier of completing the 100 metres sprint in under ten seconds. The achievement is traditionally regarded as the hallmark of a world-class male sprinter. Its significance has become less i ...
in an officially timed 100 m event. Lemaitre has run a sub-10 second 100m 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
Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
an 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 Ronald Pognon (born 16 November 1982) is a French sprint athlete.
and
Jimmy Vicaut Jimmy Vicaut (born 27 February 1992 in Bondy, Seine-Saint-Denis) is a French sprinter who specializes in the 100 and 200 metres. His personal best of 9.86 in the 100 m is the joint second fastest time of any European athlete. Biography 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 Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...
.


Career


Growing up

Lemaitre grew up in the town of Annecy, where he took part in handball,
rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...
and football, before his sprinting prowess was discovered. In 2005 at the age of 15, during national sprinting events, Lemaitre ended up with the fastest 50 metres in the country. A month after his 16th birthday in 2006, and less than a year after joining an athletics club in
Aix-les-Bains Aix-les-Bains (, ; frp, Èx-los-Bens; la, Aquae Gratianae), locally simply Aix, is a commune in the southeastern French department of Savoie.
, Lemaitre ran 100 m in 10.96 seconds. His personal best improved to 10.53 seconds in 2007.


2008–2009

In 2008, he ran a new 100 m personal best of 10.26 seconds. At the
2008 World Junior Championships in Athletics The 2008 World Junior Championships in Athletics is the 2008 version of the World Junior Championships in Athletics. It was held in Bydgoszcz in Poland at the Zdzisław Krzyszkowiak Stadium between 8 and 13 July 2008. Previously Bydgoszcz hosted ...
, Lemaitre won the 200 m title with a time of 20.83 seconds. At the 2009 European Athletics Junior Championships, Lemaitre won
gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...
in the 100 m and set a new European junior record with a time of 10.04 seconds. He won the 2009 men's European Athletics Rising Star of the Year Award for his achievements in 2009.


2010: European champion in 100 m, 200 m, and 4 x 100 m

At the start of the 2010 outdoor season, he opened with a run of 10.09 seconds in
Aix-les-Bains Aix-les-Bains (, ; frp, Èx-los-Bens; la, Aquae Gratianae), locally simply Aix, is a commune in the southeastern French department of Savoie.
before winning in 10.24 into a headwind of −2.2  m/s in
Vénissieux Vénissieux (; Arpitan: or in the Lyonnais dialect) is a commune in the Metropolis of Lyon in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in eastern France. Geography Vénissieux is located on the southern outskirts of Lyon. Toponymy The name ''Vénis ...
. He ran at the French National Interclub Championships in Franconville in May 2010 and recorded a new 100 m personal best of 10.03 seconds, although he said he was disappointed to have missed
Ronald Pognon Ronald Pognon (born 16 November 1982) is a French sprint athlete.
's French record of 9.99 seconds. He aimed once more at the record at the
2010 European Team Championships The second SPAR European Team Championships took place on 19 and 20 June 2010. 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 20 ...
and, although he again missed his target, he finished as runner-up against
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 ...
with a personal best of 10.02 seconds. On 9 July 2010, Lemaitre officially became the first man purely of European descent to run 100 metres in under 10 seconds, with a time of 9.98 s at the 2010 French National Championships in the city of Valence. By doing so, Lemaitre also broke the 100m French national record of 9.99 s set by
Ronald Pognon Ronald Pognon (born 16 November 1982) is a French sprint athlete.
on 5 July 2005 in
Lausanne , neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR ...
. Afterwards Lemaitre said, "Of course, it was my goal to break it (the 10-second barrier). One has to run under 10 seconds in order to be part of the world's best. I will be recognised as the first white man to do so, but today's achievement is mainly about making history for myself!...It is not about the color (of one's skin), it is about hard work." One day later (at the same 2010 French National Championships), Lemaitre equalled the 200m French national outdoor record with a time of 20.16 seconds.
Gilles Quénéhervé Gilles Quénéhervé (born 17 May 1966) is a retired French sprinter who specialized in the 200 metres. Biography At the 1987 World Championships in Rome he won the silver medal in a time of 20.16, which still stood as a French record for 24 ye ...
had held the 200m French national outdoor record exclusively for almost 23 years - since 3 September 1987. At the 2010 European Championships, he won the gold medal in the 100 m with a time of 10.11 s. The next day, after comfortably progressing through the heats and semi-finals of the 200 m, Lemaitre became the double European champion by storming to victory in the 200 m final in a time of 20.37 s, beating Great Britain's Christian Malcolm by 0.01 s (Malcolm clocked his season's best time of 20.38 s in the final). Lemaitre then combined with
Jimmy Vicaut Jimmy Vicaut (born 27 February 1992 in Bondy, Seine-Saint-Denis) is a French sprinter who specializes in the 100 and 200 metres. His personal best of 9.86 in the 100 m is the joint second fastest time of any European athlete. Biography Vicaut ...
, Pierre-Alexis Pessonneaux, and
Martial Mbandjock Martial Mbandjock (born 14 October 1985 in Roubaix) is a French sprinter who specializes in the 100 metres., beijing2008.cn, ret: Aug 26, 2008 His personal best time is 10.06 seconds, achieved in July 2008 in Albi. He won the bronze medal in the ...
in the 4 × 100 m relay final to finish first ahead of
Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
and
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
in a time of 38.11 s. At the
IAAF World Challenge The IAAF World Challenge was an annual, global circuit of one-day track and field competitions organized by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). First held in 2010, it replaced the IAAF Grand Prix and IAAF Super Grand Pri ...
's
Rieti Meeting The Rieti Meeting is an annual athletics event at the Stadio Raul Guidobaldi in Rieti, Italy that takes place in late August or early September. Previously one of the IAAF Grand Prix events, it is now part of the IAAF World Challenge. It was fi ...
in
Rieti, Italy Rieti (; lat, Reate, Sabino: ) is a town and ''comune'' in Lazio, central Italy, with a population of 47,700. It is the administrative seat of the province of Rieti and see of the diocese of Rieti, as well as the modern capital of the Sabina re ...
on 29 August 2010, Lemaitre competed in the 100 m. In that event, he equalled his personal best in his heat with a time of 9.98 s, and improved on it in the final with a time of 9.97 s (reaction time 0.199 s).


2011: World Championships 200 m bronze and 4 x 100m silver

During the 2011 European Indoor Championships in
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
, Christophe Lemaitre was the fastest during the heats of the 60 m event. He also had the fastest time in the semi-finals, but he only finished in third place in the final. On June 7, at the first meeting of the Pro Athlé Tour in Montreuil, he broke his own national record with a time of 9.96 s. On June 18, he went on to again lower his national record, clocking a time of 9.95 s at the
2011 European Team Championships The third European Team Championships, took place on 18 and 19 June 2011. The Competition was divided between four divisions, with results determining promotion and relegation between them. The Super League event was held in Stockholm, at the Sto ...
in Stockholm, Sweden. On June 30, he matched his national record with a time of 9.95 s in
Lausanne , neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR ...
. On July 29, he again lowered the French national record at the French National Championships 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 ...
, with a time of 9.92 s. By winning that race in 9.92 s, he became the third fastest sprinter of non-west African descent (after
Frankie Fredericks Frank "Frankie" Fredericks (born 2 October 1967) is a former track and field athlete from Namibia. Running in the 100 metres and 200 metres, he won four silver medals at the Olympic Games (two in 1992 and two in 1996), making him Namibia's only ...
and one hundred ahead of Patrick Johnson). On 30 July, he appeared to break the 200 metres French national record, but it did not count as the wind speed was 2.3 m/s, which was 0.3 m/s over the limit. At the 2011 World Championships in Daegu, Lemaitre reached the final of the 100 m event, where he finished fourth. On September 3, he won the bronze medal in the 200 m event, with a time of 19.80 s and a wind speed of 0.8 m/s in the final. In doing so, he pulverized the previous French national record (20.16 s) that he had shared with
Gilles Quénéhervé Gilles Quénéhervé (born 17 May 1966) is a retired French sprinter who specialized in the 200 metres. Biography At the 1987 World Championships in Rome he won the silver medal in a time of 20.16, which still stood as a French record for 24 ye ...
for 14 months by 0.36 second. In that race he became the second-fastest European 200 m sprinter in history after Pietro Mennea. On September 4, Lemaitre teamed up with
Jimmy Vicaut Jimmy Vicaut (born 27 February 1992 in Bondy, Seine-Saint-Denis) is a French sprinter who specializes in the 100 and 200 metres. His personal best of 9.86 in the 100 m is the joint second fastest time of any European athlete. Biography Vicaut ...
,
Teddy Tinmar Teddy Tinmar (born 30 May 1987) is a French Sprint (running), sprinter, who specialises in the 100 metres, 100 and 200 metres. He helped the French men's 4×100 metres relay team to win a silver medal at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics, ...
and
Yannick Lesourd Yannick Lesourd (born 3 April 1988 in Dreux) is a track and field sprint athlete who competes internationally for France.4 x 100 metres relay final, finishing second behind the world record-breaking Jamaican team and thus taking the silver medal.


2012: Olympic 4 x 100 m bronze in London

Lemaitre, after consulting with his coach, opted out of competing in the 100 m in the
2012 London Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
. Lemaitre would thus only participate in the 200 m, in which he was ranked fourth that year, and the 4 × 100 m relay. His coach, Pierre Carraz, said: "In the results over 100m, Christophe is only ranked 10th among those who have entered. Over 200m, we can hope for a medal." Lemaitre finished sixth in the 200 m final in a time of 20.19 s. After the final, he said, "I started very well. And then I still had this problem at the bend. I did my best, but it was too difficult. I finished sixth. There is not much to say. For me, it was not the final I was hoping for." In the 4 × 100 m relay final, Lemaitre won his first Olympic medal, with his team taking the bronze behind
Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...
(gold) and
Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...
(silver).


2013

In the 100 m final at the 2013 World Championships in
Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...
, Lemaitre finished in seventh place in a time of 10.06. On 12 August, one day after the 100 m final, he withdrew from the 200 m and the 4 × 100 m relay due to an injury near the right knee sustained during the 100 m final.


2014

At the 2014 European Championships, he won three medals, with silvers in the 100 m and 200m behind the British sprinters
James Dasaolu James Dasaolu (born 5 September 1987) is a retired British track and field athlete who specialised in the 100 metres. He was the 2014 European champion over the distance. In July 2013, he became the second fastest Briton of all time after runni ...
and
Adam Gemili Adam Ahmed Gemili (born 6 October 1993) is a British sprinter. He is the 2014 European champion at 200 metres, and 4 x 100 metres relay, and part of the Great Britain team that won gold in the 2017 World Championships in the same event. He ...
respectively, before winning bronze in the 4 × 100 m relay. He has now won a record eight medals at the European Championships.


2016: Olympic 200 m bronze in Rio de Janeiro

After a disappointing 2015 season in which he failed to reach the World Championships final in
Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
in either the 100 m or the 200 m, Lemaitre started to think about changing his coach. After months of reflection, he decided to stay and train in his hometown of
Aix-les-Bains Aix-les-Bains (, ; frp, Èx-los-Bens; la, Aquae Gratianae), locally simply Aix, is a commune in the southeastern French department of Savoie.
. On February 27, Lemaitre captured the indoor 200 m French national title with a personal best time of 20.43. Afterwards, he stated his desire to run a sub-20 second 200 m again, a time he had not achieved since 2012. However, an injury in June forced him to withdraw from the European Championships in
Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...
in order to prepare for the
Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...
. At the Olympics, Lemaitre didn't reach the 100 m final after finishing third in his semi-final in 10.07, although it was his season's best. However, in the 200 m, he qualified for the final after clocking 20.01 in the semi-final behind America's
LaShawn Merritt LaShawn Merritt (born June 27, 1986) is an American track and field athlete who competes in sprinting events, specializing in the 400 metres. He is a former Olympic champion over the distance and his personal best of 43.65 seconds makes him th ...
. In the 200 metres final, Lemaitre won the bronze medal in a 20.12 clocking, just 3 milliseconds ahead of Great Britain's
Adam Gemili Adam Ahmed Gemili (born 6 October 1993) is a British sprinter. He is the 2014 European champion at 200 metres, and 4 x 100 metres relay, and part of the Great Britain team that won gold in the 2017 World Championships in the same event. He ...
, with the podium spot determined in a photo finish. In the process, Lemaitre became the first French athlete to win a medal in the event since
Abdoulaye Seye Abdoulaye Seye (30 July 1934 – 13 October 2011) was a Senegalese sprinter. He competed for France at the 1960 Olympics in the 100 m, 200 m and 4 × 100 m relay events and won a bronze medal in the 200 m. Although Senegal had received its indepe ...
in 1960.


2017

Lemaitre in the 200 metres event competed at the 2017 IAAF World Championships in Athletics. There, he finished third in his heat with a time of 20.40, behind
Ameer Webb Ameer Kenneth Webb (born March 19, 1991) is an American Sprint (running), sprinter specializing in the 100 metres, 100 m and 200 metres, 200 m. College career At Texas A&M Webb was the 200 meter champion at the 2013 NCAA Men's Divisio ...
, and
Ramil Guliyev Ramil Guliyev ( az, Ramil Eldar oğlu Quliyev; born 29 May 1990) is an Azerbaijani-born Turkish sprinter. He competes in the 100 metres and 200 metres. At the 2017 World Championships, Guliyev became the World Champion in the 200 metres ...
, who would win the final 3 days later. 2 days later, Lemaitre failed to advance to the final, finishing 4th in his semi, but clocking 20.30. His time however, was the 8th fastest, but Japanese sprinter Abdul Hakim Sani Brown qualified automatically with 20.43.


2018

During the indoor season Lemaitre came within 0.02 of his personal best with a 6.57 in the 60 m heats at a meeting in Mondeville and finished ahead of Jimmy Vicaut in the final, but during the outdoor season injured his right hamstring during the 100 m Diamond League race at the
Meeting de Paris Meeting de Paris (formerly known as the Meeting Areva and Meeting Gaz de France) is an annual track and field meeting at the Stade Sébastien Charléty in Paris, France. Previously one of the IAAF Golden League events, it is now part of the Diamon ...
. This ruled him out of the
2018 European Athletics Championships The 2018 European Athletics Championships were held in Berlin, Germany, from 6 to 12 August 2018. The championships were part of the first European Championships with other events happening in the United Kingdom. For the second Championships in ...
later that year.


2019

Lemaitre was selected by the
French Athletics Federation The French Athletics Federation (french: Fédération française d'athlétisme - ''FFA''), is the governing body for the sport of athletics in France. History FFA is the heir to the Union des Sociétés Françaises de Sports Athlétiques (USFSA), ...
for the 200 m and 4 x 100 m relay at the
2019 World Athletics Championships The 2019 IAAF World Athletics Championships () was the seventeenth edition of the biennial, global athletics competition organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), since renamed World Athletics. It was held betw ...
. After some disappointing results at 200 m leading up to the competition, Lemaitre gave up the 200 m and decided to focus only on the relay at the World Championships. Lemaitre was assigned to run the anchor leg for France in the 4 x 100 m final in Doha, but the French team failed to pass the baton on the first exchange and did not finish the race.


2021

Lemaitre struggled with injuries in the buildup to the
2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...
and his preparation was further hampered by a bad reaction following a COVID-19 vaccination. As a result he withdrew from the French Athletics Championships, and was not selected to represent France at the Olympics.


Recognition

Christophe Lemaitre was the winner of the 2010 men's European Athlete of the Year Trophy. He was also named the 2010 L'Équipe Champion of Champions (France category) (ahead of
Sébastien Loeb Sébastien Loeb (; born 26 February 1974) is a French professional rallying, rally, auto racing, racing and rallycross driver. He is the most successful driver in the World Rally Championship (WRC), having won the world championship a record nin ...
and
Teddy Riner Teddy Pierre-Marie Riner (, ; born 7 April 1989) is a French judoka. He has won ten World Championships gold medals, the first and only judoka (male or female) to do so, and three Olympic gold medals (two individual, one team). He has also won ...
) by the French sports daily
L'Équipe ''L'Équipe'' (, French for "the team") is a French nationwide daily newspaper devoted to sport, owned by Éditions Philippe Amaury. The paper is noted for coverage of association football, rugby, motorsport, and cycling. Its predecessor w ...
and the 2010 RTL Champion of Champions by the French commercial radio network RTL. After Lemaitre had first broken the ten seconds barrier in the 100m in 2010,
L'Équipe ''L'Équipe'' (, French for "the team") is a French nationwide daily newspaper devoted to sport, owned by Éditions Philippe Amaury. The paper is noted for coverage of association football, rugby, motorsport, and cycling. Its predecessor w ...
put him on the front page, even though the
Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists ...
was taking place. During his European Championships treble gold medal winning year of 2010, Lemaitre ran faster than the former world record-holder Asafa Powell and the former double world champion
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 ...
did at his age. Lemaitre took second place in the total points received that decided who was to win the 2011 men's European Athlete of the Year Trophy.


Personal life

In addition to his career in athletics, Lemaitre attends the
University of Savoy Savoy Mont Blanc University (french: Université Savoie Mont Blanc, a.k.a. Chambéry University) is a public university in the region of Savoy, with one campus in Annecy and two around Chambéry. Campuses The university was officially founded ...
, where he is studying for a professional bachelor's degree in industrial electrical engineering and computer science.


Personal bests

Key: NR = National record


References


External links

* *
Christophe Lemaitre
at All-Athletics.com
Christophe Lemaitre
at the
French Athletics Federation The French Athletics Federation (french: Fédération française d'athlétisme - ''FFA''), is the governing body for the sport of athletics in France. History FFA is the heir to the Union des Sociétés Françaises de Sports Athlétiques (USFSA), ...

Christophe Lemaitre
at the
European Athletic Association The European Athletic Association (more commonly known as European Athletics) is the governing body for athletics in Europe. It is one of the six Area Associations of the world's athletics governing body World Athletics. European Athletics has 51 ...
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lemaitre, Christophe 1990 births Living people French male sprinters Sportspeople from Annecy Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes of France Olympic bronze medalists for France Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics World Athletics Championships medalists European Athletics Championships medalists Université Savoie-Mont Blanc alumni World Athletics Championships athletes for France Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field) Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics European Athlete of the Year winners European Athletics Rising Star of the Year winners IAAF Continental Cup winners