French sprinting legend Christophe Lemaitre put rugby superstar winger Louis Bielle-Biarrey to the test recently, as the duo competed in a 50 metre foot race shared on CANAL+.<\/p>\n
The 22-year-old star turned on the jets as he faced the 35-year-old former Olympian in one of the most entertaining races in recent times.<\/p>\n
Bielle-Biarrey\u2019s opponent has won a remarkable four senior gold medals at European Championships and achieved bronze medals at two separate Olympic Games. He will also be forever remembered in the world of sprinting for becoming the first-ever white man to break the 10-second barrier in the 100 metres.<\/p>\n
Despite ALL this, at 35 years old and having not raced in over 12 months, Lemaitre got well and truly smoked by the younger man.<\/p>\n
Bielle-Biarrey<\/a> hit 38.5 kilometres per hour, which equates to a remarkable 10.69 metres per second, as he beat the French champion in front of his Bordeaux-Begles teammates to reinforce his spot as one of the fastest men in world rugby.<\/p>\n UNE RENCONTRE DE CHAMPIONS \u2b50\ufe0f<\/p>\n Christophe Lemaitre, l\u00e9gende de l\u2019athl\u00e9tisme fran\u00e7ais, est all\u00e9 \u00e0 la rencontre de Louis Bielle-Biarrey pour partager ses conseils de course \ud83d\ude80<\/p>\n Le sujet est disponible en int\u00e9gralit\u00e9 sur l\u2019appli @canalplus<\/a> \ud83d\udcfa pic.twitter.com\/brEOJ074GA<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 CANAL+ Rugby (@CanalplusRugby) January 25, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cOut of the question that I\u2019d do less than 100 per cent\u201d<\/p>\n When asked what he thought about the young winger\u2019s running technique, Lemaitre said: \u201cHe\u2019s doing well. I gave him a little advice, it\u2019s about adding a bit more rhythm at the start because he swings his legs too much. At the beginning, we need to create speed.<\/p>\n \u201cFor a contact sport like rugby, it\u2019s true that it\u2019s impressive that he\u2019s able to generate speed in a very short space of time. Especially as he has roughly an identical build, we\u2019re a bit lanky, a bit tall. We may be able to generate explosiveness and speed without being a bodybuilder, like in the 80s and 90s.\u201d<\/p>\n Bielle-Biarrey added: \u201cThe coaches didn\u2019t want me to go at 100 per cent, they were afraid I\u2019d get injured. But it was out of the question that I\u2019d do less than 100 per cent.<\/p>\n \u201cChristophe hadn\u2019t raced for a year, it\u2019s very different, and perhaps with some preparation, the result would have been different. I just want to measure myself and I\u2019m glad I did it.\u201d<\/p>\n Remarkably, at his peak, Lemaitre hit 44 km\/h, which is equivalent to 19.66 m\/s.<\/p>\n Want more from Planet Rugby? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list<\/a> for world-class coverage you can trust.<\/p>\n READ MORE:\u00a0Springboks: Rassie Erasmus uses \u2018classic example\u2019 of Jacques Nienaber to prove his point on Tony Brown contract situation<\/a><\/p>\n