Career
Competing in cross country running, Gressier was part of France’s gold medal-winning team in the U20 race at the European Cross Country Championships in 2015 and 2016. Gressier won the gold medal at the 2017 European Cross Country Championships in Šamorín in the U23 race. Gressier won the gold medal again at the 2018 European Cross Country Championships in Tilburg in the U23 race. [7] [8]
Competiting at the 2019 European Athletics U23 Championships, Gressier won the gold medal in the 5000 m in Gävle, also winning the gold medal in the 10,000 m at the championships. Later that year, Gressier ran the Corrida de Houilles, a road race in Paris over 10km in a European-leading time of 27:43 to move to second on the European all-time list behind only Julien Wanders of Switzerland. [9] Gressier also won the gold medal at the 2019 European Cross Country Championships in Lisbon in the U23 race, for the third consecutive year. [10]
Gressier represented France at the delayed 2020 Summer Olympics, held in Tokyo in 2021, in the men's 5000 metres, qualifying for the final and placing 13th overall. [11] Stepping up to the seniors after his under-23 victories, he was a bronze medalist at the 2021 European Cross Country Championships in Dublin, Ireland, finishing behind Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Aras Kaya of Turkey. [12]
Gressier placed eleventh at the 2022 World Athletics Championships over 10,000 metres in Eugene, Oregon, and fourth over that distance at the 2022 European Athletics Championships in Munich, Germany. [13] [14]
2023: European 5 km road record
Gressier held the European 5 km road race record of 13:18 from February 2020 until April 2022, when Italy's Yemaneberhan Crippa set a new continental best mark of 13:14. On 12 February 2023, Gressier regained his record at the Monaco Run – 5 km Herculis with a time of 13:12. [5]
That year, he had a top-ten finish in the final of the 5000 metres at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest, and a top-five finish at the 2023 World Athletics Road Running Championships in the half marathon in Riga, Latvia. [15] [16]
Gressier placed fifth over 10,000 metres at the 2024 European Athletics Championships in Rome, Italy. [17] Competing at the 2024 Olympic Games, he had a top-ten finish over 5000 metres, and placed thirteenth in the 10,000 metres. [18] [19]
2025: 10,000m world champion
In February 2025, Gressier set a new European indoor record over 5000 metres of 12:54.92 at the BU David Hemery Valentine International in Boston, Massachusetts, finishing behind a world-record setting Grant Fisher. [20] Competing in the half marathon, Gressier won the gold medal at the 2025 European Running Championships in Brussels in April 2025, running a personal best time of 59:45 to win ahead of Awet Nftalem Kibrab. It was his first senior-level title. [21]
In August, Gressier won the 2025 Diamond League final in Zurich over 3000 metres. [22] At the 2025 World Athletics Championships held in Tokyo, Gressier was the surprise winner of the 10,000 m. Gressier won with a late burst of speed in the finishing straight, coming in with a time of 28 minutes 55.77 seconds. [23] He is the first Frenchman and the third European male to have won at this distance in the world championship, and only the second male champion not to be born in Africa after Alberto Cova in 1983. [3] On the final day of the World Championships, Gressier added a bronze medal to his haul after finishing third in the 5,000 m race. [4]
Gressier won the silver medal at the 2025 European Cross Country Championships in Lagoa, Portugal, behind Thierry Ndikumwenayo of Spain. [24]
Miscellaneous
Gressier is known for race finish celebrations. At the 2018 edition of the European cross country while in first place at the end of the U23 race he attempted a football player like knee slide but ended up falling flat on his face as he crossed the line. [7] At the 2019 edition of the same race Gressier was so far clear of the other competitors that he walked across the line. At the 2019 French Cross Country Championships, Gressier began slapping hands with the crowd and high-fived a mascot before looking back to discover that he wasn’t leading as big a margin as he thought and had to sprint for the finish. [10] At the French Cross Country Championships in March 2023, he celebrated by eating a crepe before the finish line. He attempted, unsuccessfully, to feed some of his victory crepe to second-place finisher Markus Georger, who declined. He then offered some to third-place Fabien Palcau, who happily accepted. [25] He celebrated his victory in the half marathon at the 2025 European Running Championships in April 2025, by hurdling over the victory tape. [21]
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