Kévin Menaldo (born 12 July 1992) is a French track and field athlete who competes in the pole vault. He has a personal best of 5.75 m (18 ft 10+1⁄4 in) (set indoors in 2014) and was the silver medallist at the 2013 Mediterranean Games.
Born in Bordeaux, he began training with former Olympic pole vault medalist Thierry Vigneron in 2009.[1] The year he came seventh at the 2009 World Youth Championships in Athletics and also won at the 2009 Gymnasiade with a personal best of 5.05 m (16 ft 6+3⁄4 in) (his first clearance over five metres).[2][3] He added a further five centimetres to his best in 2010 and won the French junior title.[1] He continued to improve the following season, which culminated in a silver medal at the 2011 European Athletics Junior Championships with a vault of 5.50 m (18 ft 1⁄2 in).[4] He had an indoor best of 5.43 m (17 ft 9+3⁄4 in) at the start of 2012 but faltered in the outdoor season, failed to register a height at the French Athletics Championships.[5]
Menaldo was sixth at the French championships indoors and out in 2013. He came fourth at the European Champion Clubs Cup and bettered his 2011 best with a vault of 5.60 m (18 ft 4+1⁄4 in) at the 2013 Mediterranean Games which brought him his first senior medal (a silver) behind Giuseppe Gibilisco, who set a championship record.[5][6] He also competed at the 2013 European Athletics U23 Championships, but performed poorly and did not get past the qualifying. He cleared 5.75 m (18 ft 10+1⁄4 in) at the beginning of the 2014 indoor season and went on to claim his first national title at the French Indoor Championships.[1]
References
^ abcKevin Menaldo. French Athletics Federation. Retrieved on 2014-02-27.
