Fabien Le Floc’h, Media365: published on Sunday, April 5, 2026 at 11:56
Jimmy Gressier came very close to breaking the 5 km world record on Saturday during the Urban Trail of Lille.
It was only the 5 kilometers of the Urban Trail of Lille, but Jimmy Gressier made it a point of honor to win the race, especially since he was competing at home, or close to it, on Saturday. The Boulogne-sur-Mer native won in 12’51” ahead of the Ethiopian Addisu Yihune (12’54”) and his compatriot Yann Schrub (12’56”), breaking his own European record (12’57”) and narrowly missing the world record, held since 2021 by Ethiopian Berihu Aregawi in 12’49”.
The world champion of 10,000 meters waited until the last moment to surge forward and surprise his competitors, including Yann Schrub, who had just set a new European record in the 10 kilometers and recently won bronze in the 3000 meters at the indoor world championships. “I wanted to try everything to go for that world record. When it attacks, I have nothing left. That’s the game,” said Yann Schrub, being fair-play. “I was the man in form, the one to beat, and I was beaten (laughs). It’s fair play.”
Gressier: “I had crazy feelings”
“When you know you’re facing a monster (Schrub, ed) like that at your place, that you’re a world champion, and everyone is waiting for you, it’s complicated, especially since everyone thinks it’s easy for me,” Jimmy Gressier explained once he crossed the finish line. After riding the wave of his world champion title won in Tokyo last September, the Frenchman experienced a challenging winter, making Saturday’s victory even more beautiful. “After Christmas, after eating a lot of chocolate, I fell into a physical state that was not mine,” he admitted. The emotional descent was tough to handle, but I managed to tough it out.”
Even though he fully enjoyed his victory, the 28-year-old French athlete had some regrets for not being able to break the world record, which he believes he has in him. “Not much is missing,” assured the man from the North. “I fought for the audience, I had crazy feelings. I went all out, I saw 12’40” at the end and I thought I’d hit 12’45″… Two months ago, I announced that I was aiming for the world record, but it’s okay.”
