Reigning Olympic champion Renaud Lavillenie will lead a French team of 54 athletes at next month’s Rio 2016 Olympic Games. The 29-year-old pole vaulter was the star name announced by the French Federation in recent days and appears their strongest chance of taking gold in Rio. Four years ago in London, Lavillenie…
Renaud Lavillenie has the hollow cheeks of a man who doesn’t weigh an ounce more than he needs. He puffs them gently before each vault attempt, as if the extra breath could make him lighter, as if the little air could lift him higher. Then he takes the end of…
