Conférence de presse :
PEARSON
« I’m running for the 4th time here in Monaco. I’m running 4 races in Europe this year, this is my 3rd. During the Australian Championship ending in April, I built a lot of strength and speed, I’m in good shape, I ran my personal best this year winning the Australian national record and the world leading time. I’m training to be at top of my shape for the World Championship at Daegu, all these events are too see where I am for Daegu.”
WELLS
“ I’m expecting a wonderful race, there is a great field, I’m going for the win. As I was injured in 2009 it has been a hard work to come back to the high level. You have to learn again how to cross hurdles and trust your body which takes a lot of time. I started performing indoor this year and now it’s getting better and better outdoor.”
KLISHINA
“ This is my first time in Monaco but I’m not a newcomer anymore, I’ve been performing to many meets and events. I won the second best world mark during the European Championship U23 last week. My long term goal is to perform to many events and remain injury free so I can make it to the London Olympics in 2012. I’m looking forward to doing my best tomorrow.”
IDOWU
“ I feel great, I’m having a really good season. I hope with the good conditions I will jump further. It is a shame for Tamgho not to be here and at the World Championship, having him around pushes me to jump further and is great for the competition. I never heard of El Sheryf before his performance at the European Championship U23 last week but I’m sure tomorrow he will make the surprise. ”
EL SHERYF
“ My Surname comes from Soudan as my father was born in Soudan, I started long jump at 15 years old. Speaking of my new personal best that I won this year (17m72) it was not a surprise even though my personal best before this competition was 16m92, I was expecting this performance, I’ve been training for this result for the past three years. I always believed in this record. I am obviously nervous but really excited to perform tomorrow in this meet.”
FELIX
“ I’m really happy to be back in Monaco this year, I love this great weather ! I’m excited to run again, the training is going well, I’m doing some heavy training right now. I hope a good performance, I am working on running the curve as I have a lot of improvement to do in this part of the race. The 200m is my favorite distance, perfect for me, my body like this race. Monaco will be my last race before Daegu because after this meet I will be going for a last heavy cycle of training and it will be hard to compete.”
SOUMARE
“ Je suis très heureuse de courir une nouvelle fois au meeting de Monaco, j’avais couru en 2008 pour le relais 4x100m avant Pékin. Sur 200m, contrairement a Allyson, c’est la ligne droite qui me pose soucis, mon virage est assez bon. Je ne me soucis pas pour descendre sous les 23’’, ca arrive doucement mais surement. Je me prépare essentiellement pour les championnats de France élite où je cours le relais 4x100m, le 100m et enfin le 200m. Je me sens bien, mon tendon va mieux, je me suis bien reposé donc on verra demain.’’
HOOKER
‘’My last competition was in October 2010 for the commonwealth games in Australia. I haven’t miss much as the conditions during the last meets were really bad, it was actually nice to watch them on the couch ! As my knee was injured I had to do a long build up, spent a lot of time pushing weights at the gym and running so I can say that I’m definitely good with running and strength. It’s hard to say how high I can go but I generally start with a good competition. I will be in better shape in Daegu than in Berlin for sure, maybe not 100% physically but 100% mentally and totally committed.’’
LAVILLENIE
“ C’est un plaisir d’être à Monaco, c’est un très jolie stade et il y a un gros plateau. J’espère de bonnes conditions pour pouvoir sauter haut contrairement aux derniers meetings où les conditions ne permettaient pas de réaliser une performance. Ma forme est de mieux en mieux, je m’entraine à l’extérieure depuis le mois d’Avril pour m’habituer aux conditions qui peuvent parfois être difficiles. Je n’ai pas encore concrétisé vu les conditions défavorables. En ce qui concerne Steve HOOKER, j’attendais ce moment de le retrouver, on va enfin pouvoir se jauger.’’
BOLT
‘’ I’m getting better every day, I never run at the Monaco meeting before but I know that it is a very fast track so I should run in a good time. I am not stressed, I want to run as I’m running at the trainings. This will be my last 100m before the World Championship.”
LEMAITRE
“ J’étais très déçu du meeting de Paris, surtout pour le chrono mais ce sont des choses qui arrivent, maintenant il faut se tourner vers demain. Depuis Paris, je me suis remis à l’entrainement car l’enchainement des meetings ne me permettait pas de m’entrainer correctement. J’ai fait quelques séances assez dures pour me remettre d’aplomb, cela peut être bon pour demain. Je suis conscient que meilleur sera la place, meilleur sera le chrono. Je devrais arriver en forme pour Daegu où je vise une place dans le top 5 sur 100m et 200m.’’