Pascal Martinot-Lagarde has fired a warning shot at his Glasgow 2019 rivals, saying he is ready to fight to reclaim his European Indoor title.
A gold medallist in the 60m hurdles in Prague back in 2015, the Frenchman heads into this weekend’s Championships at the Emirates Arena with something of a point to prove having surrendered his throne in Belgrade.
Pipped to the post by Briton Andrew Pozzi by the narrowest of margins on that occasion, Martinot-Lagarde had seen his career somewhat stymied by injury and a loss of form after a glittering introduction onto the world stage.
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But with those problems seemingly behind him – he claimed gold in last year’s European Outdoors in the 110m hurdles – the 27-year-old believes he is now ready to pick up where he left off- and has indoor success well within his sights.
“I’m lucky because I have won every medal at the European Championships” he said.
“I arrived with the team in Prague and we managed to wipe out the podium there.
“I was only second in 2017 so the aim for this competition is to get back the gold medal.
“I hope I take back the title and I’ll be very happy if I do.
“I love my sport. When you train for a long time without competing, it’s boring. I love to compete.
“The competition is hard. I want to run fast and I feel I’m not very far away from the other guys who are running really well at the moment.
“I come to the Championships in good motivation – I’m not the best but I’m ready to be the best.”
Martinot-Lagarde gets his title charge underway on Saturday morning, with a potential showdown with the likes of 2017 champion Pozzi and favourite Orlando Ortega of Spain pencilled in for Sunday evening.