Christophe Lemaitre missed out on the chance of taking his medal haul from European Championships into double digits in Berlin due to injury but the Frenchman is looking towards the Glasgow 2019 European Athletics Indoor Championships from 1-3 March.
Lemaitre, who announced himself on the senior stage with a sprint treble at the 2010 European Championships in Barcelona, hasn’t competed at the European Indoor Championships since 2011 when he won a bronze medal in the 60m on home soil in Paris.
However, L’Equipe is reporting the championships which will be staged in Glasgow for the first time since 1990 - the year Lemaitre was born - feature in his plans for the 2019 season as the late staging of the IAAF World Championships in Doha will make it easier for him to peak twice in the same season.
Lemaitre’s start might not be the strongest aspect of his race but the 28-year-old still has a lifetime best of 6.55 from 2010, his first season in the senior ranks. Lemaitre scaled that mark during this year’s indoor season with a 6.57 clocking.
He began his outdoor season promisingly and looked on course to challenge for medals in Berlin, especially over 200m - the distance over which he won an Olympic bronze medal in 2016.
Lemaitre clocked a season’s best of 20.19 in Ostrava, finishing one place and one-tenth behind world and soon-to-be European champion Ramil Guliyev but Lemaitre’s season came to an abrupt end in his next race after tearing his hamstring in the Paris Diamond League.
Lemaitre also missed the 2016 European Championships due to injury but the 28-year-old is still the most bemedalled male athlete in championships history with eight medals - four gold medals and two silver and bronze medals each - from his three appearances between 2010-14.
France finished fourth on the medal table at the 2017 European Indoor Championships in Belgrade. Kevin Mayer (heptathlon) and Floria Guei (400m) won gold medals and Pascal Martinot-Lagarde won silver in the 60m hurdles.