Romain Mesnil (born 13 June 1977 in

Le Plessis-Bouchard Le Plessis-Bouchard () is a commune in the Val-d'Oise department in Île-de-France in northern France. Population Twin towns * Niederstetten (Germany). See also *Communes of the Val-d'Oise department The following is a list of the 184 ...

) is a retired,

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

pole vault Pole vaulting, also known as pole jumping, is a track and field event in which an athlete uses a long and flexible pole, usually made from fiberglass or carbon fiber, as an aid to jump over a bar. Pole jumping competitions were known to the M ...

er. His personal outdoor best is 5.95 metres, achieved in August 2003 in

Castres Castres (; ''Castras'' in the Languedocian dialect of Occitan) is the sole subprefecture of the Tarn department in the Occitanie region in Southern France. It lies in the former province of Languedoc, although not in the former region of Lan ...

. His personal indoor best is 5.86 metres, set in March 2001 in

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and fr ...

. His coach was Georges Martin.

Biography

Mesnil won the

1999 European Athletics U23 Championships The 2nd European Athletics U23 Championships were held in Gothenburg, Sweden, at Ullevi from 29 July to 1 August 1999. Complete results and medal winners were published. Results Men Women Medal table Participation According to an un ...

gold medal, 2

World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

silvers, 1 World Indoor Championship bronze, 1 European Championship silver and 1

Universiade The Universiade is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The name is a portmanteau of the words "University" and " Olympiad". The Universiade is referred ...

bronze. He won seven outdoor and three indoor French National Athletics Championships titles from 1998 to 2011. In March 2009, Mesnil released a video of himself running naked through the streets of

Paris Paris () is the capital and 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), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

as if to pole vault in Parisian tourist spots. The video, posted on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

, was an attempt to attract attention to his quest for a new sponsorship deal. His sponsorship contract with Nike had expired in 2008 and was not renewed. Mesnil finished in 10th position (5.50m) in the pole vault final of the

2012 Summer 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, th ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, his fourth and final Olympic Games. He had previously taken part in the last three Olympics in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mounta ...

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates a ...

and

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the Capital city, capital of the China, People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's Li ...

but had failed to qualify for the final each time. Mesnil retired from pole vaulting in July 2013. His last competition - the

Meeting Areva 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 Diam ...

- was held on 6 July 2013 at the

Stade de France The Stade de France (, ) is the national stadium of France, located just north of Paris in the commune of Saint-Denis. Its seating capacity of 80,698 makes it the sixth-largest stadium in Europe. The stadium is used by the France national foo ...

.Les adieux du perchiste albigeois Romain Mesnil
FranceTV3 Midi-Pyrénées July 7, 2013

Results in international competitions

*Only the position and height in the final are indicated, unless otherwise stated. (q) means the athlete did not qualify for the final, with the overall position and height in the qualification round indicated. Osaka07 D9A MPole Vault VC

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mesnil, Romain 1977 births Living people People from Le Plessis-Bouchard Sportspeople from Val-d'Oise Tibet freedom activists French male pole vaulters Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes of France World Athletics Championships medalists European Athletics Championships medalists Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) Universiade bronze medalists for France Medalists at the 1999 Summer Universiade 20th-century French people 21st-century French people