Reigning Olympic triathlon champion Cassandre Beaugrand broke the long-standing French 5000m record in her first race at the distance since 2016 in Nice on Wednesday (20) evening.
The 28-year-old stopped the clock at 14:40.77, the fastest time by a European at this early juncture of the outdoor season, to improve the previous French record of 14:43.90 set by Margaret Maury back in 2004.
"I really surprised myself. I was very focused on the wave-lights and the pacemakers because I'm not used to running like that; I had to adapt my stride. But there were so many people cheering me on. I couldn't let them down," said Beaugrand as reported by L’Equipe.
Beaugrand might have surprised herself but this is the third time she has taken ownership of a French record in just over a year. Beaugrand broke the French 5km record in Monaco last year with 14:53 before adding the 10km record to her list of accolades, clocking 30:52 in Lille last month to become the first Frenchwoman to break the 31 minute-barrier.
Beaugrand has also competed for France in athletics at age-group level, taking part in three editions of the SPAR European Cross Country Championships with her best performance being a seventh-place finish in the U20 race in 2014.
And while Beaugrand's focus remains on triathlon, the door is partially ajar for her first ever appearance in a senior event at the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham from 10-16 August. Her time in Nice was comfortably inside the qualifying time of 15:05, although the French Athletics Federation has set a tougher qualifying mark of 14:40 for the championships.