Mélina Robert-Michon

Mélina Robert-Michon (born 18 July 1979) is a French discus thrower. She was the silver medalist at the 2013 World Championships and 2016 Summer Olympics and the national record holder. She earned the bronze medal at the 2017 World Championships.

Mélina Robert-Michon
Mélina Robert-Michon at the DécaNation 2014.
Personal information
Born (1979-07-18) 18 July 1979
Voiron, France
Height1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Weight83 kg (183 lb)
Sport
Country France
SportAthletics
Event(s)Discus throw
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)66.73 metres (2016) NR
Medal record
Representing  France
Olympic Games
2016 Rio de JaneiroDiscus throw
World Championships
2013 MoscowDiscus throw
2017 LondonDiscus throw
European Championships
2014 ZürichDiscus throw
Universiade
2001 BeijingDiscus throw
Jeux de la Francophonie
2001 OttawaDiscus throw
Mediterranean Games
2009 PescaraDiscus Throw
European Cup Winter Throwing
2014 LeiriaDiscus throw
2016 AradDiscus throw
2017 Las PalmasDiscus throw
2007 YaltaDiscus throw
2008 SplitDiscus throw
2013 CastellónDiscus throw
2015 LeiriaDiscus throw
2001 NiceDiscus throw
2004 MarsaDiscus throw
2012 BarDiscus throw
World Junior Championships
1998 AnnecyDiscus throw
European Athletics U23 Championships
2001 AmsterdamDiscus throw

Discus career

At the 2013 World Championships in Moscow, Robert-Michon won the discus silver medal with her last throw - a distance of 66.28 metres - which broke her own national record (65.78 m) set 11 years prior on 17 July 2002. Her 66.28 metres was much better than her hitherto, 2013 best distance of 63.75m. She had never finished better than eighth place in the final in her four previous World Championships appearances. She became the first male or female French athlete to win a World Championships medal in the discus event. Right after securing the silver medal, she told a television interviewer, "I had been working hard a long time for this. Since the start of the season, I said that I wanted to climb onto the podium. Many people laughed at it and did not quite believe it. I have been waiting so long for this.”[1][2][3]

In December 2013, Robert-Michon was chosen as the 2013 French female athlete of the year, according to an Internet poll taken from the athletics fraternity, in which more than 2500 votes were cast over two weeks. The poll was conducted by the Fédération française d'athlétisme.[4]

On 25 June 2016, Robert-Michon won her 16th French National Discus Championship, by throwing 63.40 m, less than 1 metre more than the runner-up Pauline Pousse (62.68 m).[5] She finished fifth at the 2016 European Championships in Amsterdam with a throw of 62.47m in the final, after having thrown 63.99m in the qualifying round (which would have been good enough for the bronze medal).[6]

Robert-Michon's achieved her best result in her fifth Olympic appearance at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. 16 years after her first Olympic appearance at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, she won the silver medal at the age of 37; her throw of 66.73m in the final beat her own French national record and was 2.48 m less than the distance registered by the Croatian winner Sandra Perković. Robert-Michon finished in 2nd place at both the 2016 Meeting de Paris (27 August, 64.36 m) and the 2016 Weltklasse Zurich (1 September, 63.91 m), behind the winner Sandra Perković in both competitions.[7]

In December 2016, she was chosen for the second in her career as the 2016 French female athlete of the year, ahead of trail-runner Caroline Cheverot and 800 m European silver medalist Rénelle Lamote.[8]

After a difficult season struggled by minor injuries, the French managed to win the bronze medal at the World Championships in London behind Croatia's Sandra Perković and Australia's Dani Stevens, both former world champions.[9] Her result of 66.21m is her best throw of the season, and the third best of his career (behind 66.73m in 2016 and 66.28m in 2013).[9]

In January 2018, she retained her « French female athlete of the year award » for the second consecutive year, this time for 2017, well ahead of world trail-runner champion Adeline Roche and 400 m runner Floria Gueï.[10] She is the first athlete to win three times the award.[10]

Family

Robert-Michon has a daughter named Elyssa, born on 24 August 2010.[11] On 5 December 2017, she announced her second pregnancy.[12]

Results in international competitions

Note: Only the position and distance in the final are indicated, unless otherwise stated. (q) means the athlete did not qualify for the final, with the overall position and distance in the qualification round indicated.

YearCompetitionVenuePositionNotes
Representing  France
1998 World Junior Championships Annecy, France 2nd 55.01 m
European Championships Budapest, Hungary 29th (q) 47.88 m
1999 Universiade Palma de Mallorca, Spain 8th 56.81 m
European U23 Championships Gothenburg, Sweden 12th 50.75 m
2000 Olympic Games Sydney, Australia 29th (q) 54.11 m
2001 European U23 Championships Amsterdam, Netherlands 1st 58.52 m
Jeux de la Francophonie Ottawa, Canada 3rd 56.81 m
World Championships Edmonton, Canada 20th (q) 56.22 m
Universiade Beijing, China 3rd 58.04 m
2002 European Championships Munich, Germany 12th 54.92 m
2003 World Championships Paris, France 11th 58.52 m
European Cup Florence, Italy 2nd 61.67 m
2004 Olympic Games Athens, Greece 31st (q) 56.70 m
2005 Mediterranean Games Almería, Spain 6th 51.80 m
2006 European Championships Gothenburg, Sweden 17th (q) 53.77 m
2007 World Championships Osaka, Japan 11th 57.81 m
2008 European Cup Winter Throwing Split, Croatia 2nd 59.93 m
Olympic Games Beijing, China 8th 60.66 m
2009 Mediterranean Games Pescara, Italy 1st 61.17 m
European Team Championships Leiria, Portugal 2nd 61.41 m
World Athletics Final Thessaloniki, Greece 3rd 61.74 m
World Championships Berlin, Germany 8th 60.92 m
2012 European Cup Winter Throwing Bar, Montenegro 3rd 63.03 m
European Championships Helsinki, Finland 6th 60.41 m
Olympic Games London, United Kingdom 5th 63.98 m
2013 European Team Championships Gateshead, England 1st 63.75 m
European Cup Winter Throwing Castellón de la Plana, Spain 2nd 61.26 m
World Championships Moscow, Russia 2nd 66.28 m NR
2014 European Championships Zürich, Switzerland 2nd 65.33 m
2015 World Championships Beijing, China 10th 60.92 m
2016 Olympic Games Rio de Janeiro, Brasil 2nd 66.73 m NR
2017 World Championships London, United Kingdom 3rd 66.21 m
DécaNation Angers, France 1st 60.06 m
2019 World Championships Doha, Qatar 10th 59.99 m

References
  1. "Mélina Robert-Michon en argent, la revanche des lancers français". Le Monde. 11 August 2013.
  2. "Athlétisme - Mondiaux : Mélina Robert-Michon en argent!". Le Point. 11 August 2013.
  3. "Report: Women's Discus final – Moscow 2013". IAAF. 11 August 2013.
  4. Tamgho et Robert-Michon, athlètes de l'année Francetvsport (25 December 2013)
  5. "Championnats de France - Disque : Mélina Robert-Michon a résisté à Pauline Pousse" (in French). Retrieved 25 June 2016.
  6. "Championnats d'Europe : Pas de podium pour Mélina Robert-Michon" (in French). Retrieved 10 July 2016.
  7. "Ligue de diamant : Mélina Robert-Michon 2e derrière Sandra Perkovic" (in French). Retrieved 10 September 2016.
  8. "ATHLE.FR | Athlètes de l'année : Et les gagnants sont…". Retrieved 4 January 2018.
  9. "Discus Throw women — IAAF World Championships London 2017".
  10. "ATHLE.FR | Athlètes de l'année : Mélina Robert-Michon et Pierre-Ambroise Bosse vainqueurs". Retrieved 4 January 2018.
  11. "Mélina Robert-Michon : " Comme un renouveau "". Radio Parilly. 9 November 2010.
  12. Rédaction. "Mélina Robert-Michon enceinte de son second enfant". L'ÉQUIPE (in French). Retrieved 4 January 2018.
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