Toulouse. Henry Maitre: “We had a crazy weekend”
What is your first feeling at the end of this 2nd edition?
We just had a crazy weekend. Over the two days combined, we have around 8,000 spectators. It’s really awesome. Thibaut Collet, one of the participants in the Elite competition, said that he saw the best public in France at a meeting. I’m sure that feeling was shared by all the other athletes.
In the audience, there were of course the youngest. How did they experience this 2nd edition?
Like last year, we had integrated into the Friday program initiations for schoolchildren and PE lessons for college and high school students. And one of our best satisfactions is to have young people who wish to take the license within our club, the SATUC, to practice pole vaulting.
Precisely, concerning the SATUC, how many licensees practice pole vaulting?
We have about thirty of them. A fairly stable figure for the past few years. Anyway, SATUC has always had a tradition when it comes to pole vaulting. But if we can attract a new audience thanks to this type of event, it’s really a source of pride.
Regarding the Elite competition, was it easy to attract these headliners?
We are the last meeting of the season. So we couldn’t have all those we hoped for. But the set still looked great. Some had already come last year. It wasn’t too hard to get them back. So for the next edition, we still hope to have beautiful people.
Should the 3rd edition start again on the same format?
Yes, in principle, we should start again on the same format. For the moment, the date is not yet official. We are also thinking about finding another slot, probably a little earlier in the summer. I would like to thank once again the 70 volunteers who have enabled us to organize this 2nd edition in very good conditions. Without forgetting all our partners and in particular the town hall of Toulouse, the Occitanie region, the departmental council of Haute-Garonne and Sud de France.