Yohann Diniz made it a weekend French athletics will remember for a very long time as he broke the 20km race walking world record in Arles.
As teammates Renaud Lavillenie and Pascal Martinot-Lagarde were celebrating gold at the European Athletics Indoor Championships in Prague, Diniz, 37, was increasing his own brilliant reputation.
A triple European champion and world record-holder at the 50km, Diniz proved his speed at the shorter distance as he triumphed in 1:17:02 to break the old record time by 14 seconds.
Russia's Vladimir Kanaykin had set that mark in Saransk in September 2007 but fresh from a training camp in South Africa, Diniz showed why he is currently the best walker in the world.
There was no doubt of that over the longer distance after his performance at the European Athletics Championships last summer, where he secured a hat-trick of titles by smashing the world record with 3:32:33, but now he has stamped his mark all over the 20km.
It means he could bid for an amazing double at the IAAF World Championships in Beijing this summer.
Bravo í Yohann Diniz, nouveau recordman du monde du 20 km marche en 1h17'02 ! #CFAthlé pic.twitter.com/qob9QOGXX7
— FFA (@FFAthletisme) March 8, 2015