The entire front page of L'Equipe and the first double-page spread inside are devoted to Yannick Agnel today.
Agnel Superstar! screams the massive headline over a picture of the 18-year-old looking heavenward in thanks to Jesus Christ Superstar or perhaps an aquatic God who may have helped him keep his fingertips ahead of those of world champion and record holder Paul Bidedermann (GER) in the 400m free on day 1 at the European Championships here in Budapest.
Gaul has a new aquatic God (especially since the old one let the relay down again...).
Inside, the main headline on a double-page spread reads "Tomorrow's arrived", a graphic showing how Agnel compares to Michael Phelps and Ian Thorpe at 18 and a comment from Jacco Verhaeren, the Dutch head coach and mentor to Pieter Van Den Hoogenband stating that Agnel is "stronger than Thorpe" and "better than" Hoogie at the same age.
Pity that the kid did not then step up to race the 200m free this morning, for he would surely have been a medal contender. The reason: he fell a fingernail shy of qualification target in a round (not the final) of the French trials at which he established the national record.
Here's the set of swims that today keeps Agnel out of action:
- Prelims 1:49.35
- Semis 1:46.35
- Final 1:47.52
Pretty good swimming...
To make an exception for Agnel was deemed impossible in France at a time of enforcing discipline, in the pool and out of it, among the French sprint crew. Here's what happened at French trials. Adding to the tension were a series of disciplinary hearings at which French sprinters were ticked off for having skipped national camp to wet the head of a baby born to Laure Manaudou and Fred Bousquet.
Whatever the rights and wrongs of that, one leading commentator on the sport his the nail on the head as far as not letting Agnel into the 200m race when he said: "He's among the very best in the world. Obviously a foolish bureaucratic faux pas!"
Agnel's coach Fabrice Pellerin at Nice said of his charge on the eve of racing: "Yannick loves competition, it excites him. Up nagainst Bidermann he will be like a Doberman (dog). When he's got a bone, he won't give up even a crumb of it."
The teenager got it tactically right when he attacked the world champion from the front of the race, setting a pace that the German was unsure of to such an extent that he left his challenge too late, being fair to Biedermann. Being fair to Agnel, it might have been too late in any case, the Frenchman determined to have his day on his senior international debut.
