Christine Arron: “I always had bad luck at the Olympic Games” #MaParole

She is considered one of the greatest French sprinters of all time, still holding the European 100 meters record since 1998. Christine Arron’s career is punctuated with medals. A particularly long career too since she decided to stop in 2012 at the age of 39 and say goodbye to competitions.

1Queen Christina

Native of Abymes in Guadeloupe, fairies leaned over her cradle to give her the qualities of an athletics champion. “It’s true that as a baby, I had long arms and legs. It surprised everyone.”, laughs Christine Arron. As a child, the future athlete began club sport with karate. A good school.

Spotted by her sports teacher, Mr. Lambert at Raizet, she started athletics at the age of 11 with a group of friends who have never left her until today. “When I return to Guadeloupe, I find them again”she said with a smile.

His grandfather Augustin Arron, after whom a technical high school is named in Baie-Mahault in Guadeloupe, is a personality. An engineer and a great sportsman, he won athletics competitions. And without knowing it, he probably influenced his little daughter’s journey. “He must have been looking at me from up there“, jokes the champion. With her two brothers, she fought a lot and remembers that even if she didn’t have the upper hand, she didn’t give up physically. That strengthened her.

Twice a week, Christine Arron goes to training. She doesn’t appreciate the invasive side of her first trainer. On the other hand, she really likes her racing friends. At school, she doesn’t mind studying, especially when the teacher is pedagogical. She remembers math or Spanish classes that she really enjoyed. Otherwise overall, she is often bored.

From the age of 12, she began traveling, participating in competitions and had only one goal: to win. An event in Guadeloupe gives him “stars in my head”. She remembers the arrival of Carl Lewis who awarded her a cup. An unforgettable memory immortalized by the local press. She is only 14 years old and she is already nicknamed Queen Christine in the company of King Lewis.

At the age of 19, Christine Arron joined INSEP, the National Institute of Sport, the birthplace of many champions in France. She has difficulty adapting. The intensity and pace of training, the food, the climate, the fact of sharing a room with three people weighs on him. After a year, she changed coaches and joined Jacques Piasenta’s team.

2 European record

Christine Arron has chosen to retrace her journey for us in #MaParole on the banks of the Marne. She is now deputy mayor of the town of Champigny-sur-Marne in charge of sports. Before this reconversion into politics, she led an athletic career that was both unique and spectacular.

Until now, she still holds the European record for the 100 meters. 10 seconds 73 hundredths won in Budapest, Hungary in 1998. She remembers that she only received her spikes the day before the race. In the call room that day, she could not find her bib. Fortunately, a lady provided him with one and wrote the necessary information on it by hand. She even tells him that she will win. A good fairy and an unforgettable memory for Christine Arron.

In 1998, she also won the gold medal in the 4×100 meter relay at the end of a legendary straight line in which she closed five meters behind a Russian runner. After these two memorable races at the 1998 European Championships, the national press once again nicknamed her Queen Christine. The sprinter becomes famous and has to deal with a celebrity that is not necessarily pleasant for her.

The following year, in 1999, she suffered numerous injuries. She came fourth at the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000 in the 100 meters. A big disappointment these Olympics. Especially with hindsight, she understands that she is experiencing a period in athletics during which many of her competitors, particularly Americans who often pass her in front, will be tested positive or suspected of doping, like Marion Jones. An injustice that she still cannot digest.

After the Sydney Olympics in 2000, Christine Arron changed coaches. She left the very authoritarian Jacques Piasenta for John Smith in the United States. The experience doesn’t really excite him. She leaves the stable after six months. After returning from the United States, she decided to take a break from her career due to maternity in 2002. At the time, this was not at all possible for an athlete. A pioneer in the field, Christine Arron is taking advantage of her pregnancy to gain perspective and gain thirty kilos. After Ethan’s birth, she managed to lose her excess pounds in three months. A feat !

In 2003, she made her comeback at the world athletics championships at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis where she won the gold medal in the 4X100 meters with Patricia Girard, Muriel Hurtis and Sylviane Félix.

3 Olympic Games

Christine Arron’s career does not look like a long, quiet river. In 2004, at the Athens Olympic Games, she was one of the big favorites. Unfortunately, in the 100 meters, she only came sixth. “I wonder if I have bad luck with the Olympics“, she says.

Despite everything, she managed to obtain a bronze medal in 4×100 meters with Véronique Mang, Muriel Hurtis and Sylviane Félix. This is his only medal at the Olympic Games. In this sense, his career resembles that of Jackson Richardson, a great name in handball. He is a great champion, recognized by everyone, but at the Olympics, he only had a bronze medal.

In 2012, Christine Arron announced her professional retirement. She gave birth to her daughter Cassandre then continued athletics at high doses until 2015. At 42, she decided to really stop. She launched into the creation of a coaching business and became a consultant on France Télévisions.

In 2020, she was elected municipal councilor of the town of Champigny-sur-Marne to the east of Paris, deputy, in charge of sports. She does not think she will run again in 2026 and is seriously considering returning to Guadeloupe. She is currently studying to be a naturopath and would like to practice this profession on her native island.

She plans to follow the Paris Olympic Games in July 2024 and will most likely be a consultant for a television channel. She hopes for medals in athletics and intends to follow the competition remotely. But before the games, she will savor the pleasure of parading this Saturday, June 15, 2024 with the Olympic flame in Basse-Terre.

►September 13, 1973

Birth in Les Abymes

►1998

European record for 100 meters in 10 seconds 73 hundredths

►2002

Birth of his son Ethan

►2003

World champion in the 4×100 meter relay

►July 2020

Deputy mayor of Champigny-sur-Marne in charge of sports