Louis Bielle-Biarrey hits huge MPS speed in race with sprinting legend

France winger Louis Bielle-Biarrey underlined his claim to be the fastest player in world rugby by beating former Olympic medallist Christophe Lemaitre in a race recently.

The 2012 4 x 100m bronze medallist and 2016 200m bronze medallist visited Bordeaux-Begles’ training base recently, where he was pitted against their 22-year-old speedster in a race.

Bielle-Biarry beat the Olympian handsomely in a 50m sprint, clocking 38.4 kilometres per hour in the process.

This is all caveated by the fact that the 36-year-old Lemaitre has now been retired for 18 months, and his retirement in June 2024 came after years of injuries. “I haven’t sprinted for a year, I don’t remember how to do it,” he said after the race, but the 22-cap France international nevertheless clocked a speed few, if any, wingers in rugby can replicate.

Lemaitre then gave Bielle-Biarrey some advice on his technique and how he can improve his speed, which is a daunting prospect for his opponents.

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5 Feb 26

Ireland

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“He’s doing well,” the Olympian said when speaking to French broadcaster CANAL+. “I gave him a little advice, it’s about adding a bit more rhythm at the start because he swings his legs too much. At the beginning, we need to create speed.

“For a contact sport like rugby, it’s true that it’s impressive that he’s able to generate speed in a very short space of time. Especially as he has roughly an identical build, we’re 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.”

Bielle-Biarrey added: “The coaches didn’t want me to go at 100 per cent, they were afraid I’d get injured. But it was out of the question that I’d do less than 100 per cent.

“Christophe hadn’t raced for a year, it’s very different, and perhaps with some preparation, the result would have been different. I just want to measure myself and I’m glad I did it.”