2023 Marseille International Athletics Meet
A launch pad for up-and-coming athletes.
The poster for the 2023 Marseille International Athletics Meet (or the Meeting International d'Athlétisme de Marseille as it is locally known), features athletes as astronauts competing in space; the track, the rings around the planet of Marseille. This speaks to the significance of the event as the only European meeting in the South-East of France and one of the best French meetings selected by European Athletics (EA). As a World Athletics Continental Tour Bronze Meeting, it attracts established French and international competitors as well as those on the rise, and as such, it is a launch pad for up-and-coming athletes looking to make their mark at the very top of the sport.
A history of Olympians and World Champions
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone won the 400m hurdles race at the meet in 2019. Two years later, she became the Tokyo Olympic Champion and then went on to become the fastest woman of all time in the discipline, winning the 2022 World Championships in Oregon in 50:68 seconds. Her Marseille win may not have been her fastest but it was a formative part of her upward trajectory. Other decorated athletes including Allyson Felix have also graced the Marseilles track over its celebrated 15-year history, marking at as an essential stop on the Crédit Mutuel Athlé Tour.
Four Meeting Records fall at the 2023 event
This year, 400 athletes from 30 countries took to the track at the Stade Pierre Delort in Marseille on 17 July. One of six World Athletics Certified Rekortan Tracks in France*, it is one of the biggest and best-equipped in the country and it saw plenty of action.
Four meeting records were broken, two of them in the 200m. In the men’s race, the World U20 Champion, Sinesipho Dambile (ZAF) crossed the line in 20:44 crowning him the all-time Men’s Meeting Champion for 200m and athlete of the meeting. Jenna Prandini (USA) took the women’s meeting record in 22:97 whilst her team-mate Emilie Mackay ran the meeting’s fastest ever 1500m in 3:59.99, the 24th fastest time in the discipline this year. 2016 Olympic Games bronze medallist Yasmina Copello (TUR) stole the men’s 400m hurdle meeting record in 48:80.
“As a World Athletics Continental Tour Bronze Meeting, it attracts established French and international competitors as well as those on the rise, and as such, it is a launch pad for up-and-coming athletes.”
3,000-strong crowd witnesses a host of Season and Personal Bests
As well as four meeting records, the 2023 edition saw an abundance of season and personal bests, including the UK’s Ben Pattison who ran his fastest time of the season over 800m in 1:45.05 and home athlete Youssef Benzamia who clocked a PB of 3:34.85 over 1500m to name just a few. In addition to the 12 international events, the meeting hosts a regional competition during the day which is famous for its unusual 8x200m women’s relay.
Rekortan M track trusted and chosen for the event venue
The Stade Delort, which has a capacity of 5,000 underwent an upgrade in 2014. An 8-lane Rekortan M 13mm track was chosen and installed in traditional brick red. It encircles a top-level grass rugby pitch and is overlooked by three stands.
Jean-Pierre Bailly, Polytan’s Commercial Director in France, who oversaw the installation of the World Athletics Class 2 track at the stadium explained:
“It is an impressive stadium and we are proud to have been part of its making. It hosted the National Championships in 2017 and its annual Marseille International Athletics Meet is going from strength to strength. The Rekortan M track we installed is World Athletics’ most certified track globally and this particular one has seen the start of many track legends.”
As France prepares to host the world in the Paris Olympics in a year’s time, events like these, show that the strength and depth of athletics is strong.
*World Athletics Certified Rekortan Tracks, France
Class 1
Stade Dr Edmard Lama in Remire-Montjoly, Guyane
Stadium Lille Métropole in Villeneuve D’ascq
Class 2
Stade Pierre Delort in Marseille
Stade Charles Erhmann in Nice
Stade Georges Hebert in Reims
Stade Municipal Jean Adret in Sotteville Les Rouen