Renaud Lavillenie underwent hamstring surgery on 14 September and had until 30 June to achieve the minimum height for the Paris 2024 Games. But the 5.82m mark, once a mere formality, is no longer a given for him: at 37 years old, he passed at the opening height of 5.60m before failing three times at 5.72m.

"If not doing the Paris Games means I get to do two or three world championships more, I'll take it. It's not serious, it's not a drama in itself," the once mighty Lavillenie said of his non-qualification. "I will take a week's holiday with my children, it won't hurt me, and above all, I will continue to work on what I have managed to put in place over the last few months."

After triumphing at the London Olympics, Lavillenie went on to break the world record in 2015 when his 6.16m at an indoor meet in Donetsk bettered Bubka's long-standing record of 6.14m. Lavillenie travelled to the 2016 Rio Olympics as favourite but had to settle for silver, losing out to Brazilian Thiago Braz da Silva.

Of the two Rio stars, none will be in Paris, as Braz also missed out on the upcoming Olympics on Saturday. After being suspended for doping, appealing the decision and having been granted permission by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to compete in his home country this weekend, Braz also failed to reach the required 5.82m, registering a jump of 5.65m.

Braz has won medals at the last two Olympic Games, including bronze in Tokyo in 2021. He missed last year's World Championships in Budapest due to a provisional ban. Among his other achievements are a runner-up finish at the 2022 World Indoor Championships and a fourth-place finish at the 2022 World Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Oregon.

Back in March, Lavillenie, who has been marred with physical problems the past two years, posted a story on Instagram showing his latest jump. "193 days after surgery, you can't imagine how happy I am at this long-awaited moment", he wrote, accompanying an action photo. His world record is long-gone, bettered by Mondo Duplantis, the undisputed newest pole-vaulting sensation. However, the Olympic hopes remained quite alive for the Barbezieux-Saint-Hilaire native.

He finished second in Duszniki at the beginning of June with a leap of 5.72 metres, just behind Poland's Piotr Lisek, and then failed three times to reach the bar synonymous with the Olympic minimum. Despite this latest undeniable fact, Lavillenie had apparently turned the page after his zero in Clermont-Ferrand in May, where he failed to clear 5.35m three times, and had relaunched his qualifying quest. The fact that he hadn't jumped 5.72 since the end of 2022 was even more motivating and, more importantly, it was the best French performance of the season.

After Sunday, that dream is long gone for Frenchman, who will one day retire as a three-time European champion and a three-time world indoor gold medallist. Lavillenie has also won one silver and four bronze medals at the world outdoor championships.