Laurent Vidal (born 18 February 1984 in Sète) is a professional French triathlete, French Champion (Olympic Distance) of the years 2009 and 2011, French 2006 U23 Champion, 2008 Olympian, and, thanks to his 6th position at the World Championship Series triathlon in London (7 August 2011), he is definitely qualified for the Olympic Games 2012 in London.
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At his ITU debut in Hungary, Vidal became European Vice Champion (Junior), and one year later in 2003 he placed fourth at the World Championships (Junior) in Australia. In 2008, he represented France at the Olympic Games, in 2010 he won the Oceania Championships, and in 2011 he placed 7th at the European Championships, and 6th at both the London World Championship Series triathlon, and the Sprint World Championship, thus proving to be the best French male athlete of the year 2011, as David Hauss placed 13th at the European Championships, 7th at the London triathlon, but 4th at the Sprint Championships.
In 2010, Vidal was number 6 in the World Championship Series ranking, in 2011 he is number 7.
In France, Vidal takes part in the prestigious French Club Championship Series Lyonnaise des Eaux and, like e.g. Emmie Charayron and Fabienne St Louis, represents Lagardère Paris Racing. At Dunkirk (22 May 2011), for instance, he placed 10th.
In Germany, Vidal is among the international guest stars of EJOT Team Buschhütten, which he represented in the Bundesliga e.g. at the GARMIN Alpen-Triathlon at Schliersee (3 July 2011), where he placed second.
Vidal is a member (caporal) of the French Military Triathlon Team (Equipe de France), whose basis is the Ecoles militaires de Draguignan (EMD). At the Military World Games in Rio de Janeiro (24 July 2011), however, Vidal was not present.
Vidal holds a Bachelor in Sports Management. He lives in Sète and Christchurch, the hometown of his fiancée Andrea Hewitt.
Laurent Vidal had to abandon two World Championship races because of a sudden loss of consciousness (Kitzbuhel, 14 August 2010, and Sydney, 9 April 2011).[1]
In the nine years from 2002 to 2010, Vidal took part in 53 ITU competitions and achieved 25 top ten positions.
The following list is based upon the official ITU rankings and the ITU Athletes's Profile Page.[2] Unless indicated otherwise, the following events are triathlons (Olympic Distance) and refer to the Elite category.
| Date | Competition | Place | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002-07-06 | European Championships (Junior) | Győr | 2 |
| 2002-11-09 | World Championships (Junior) | Cancun | 19 |
| 2003-06-21 | European Championships (Junior) | Carlsbad (Karlovy Vary) | 14 |
| 2003-12-06 | World Championships (Junior) | Queenstown | 4 |
| 2004-05-09 | World Championships (U23) | Madeira | 7 |
| 2004-09-04 | World Cup | Hamburg | DNF |
| 2005-06-05 | World Cup | Madrid | DNF |
| 2005-07-17 | European Championships (U23) | Sofia | 37 |
| 2005-07-31 | World Cup | Salford | 14 |
| 2005-09-10 | World Championships (U23) | Gamagori | DNF |
| 2005-09-17 | OSIM World Cup | Beijing | 48 |
| 2006-03-03 | World Cup | Doha | 11 |
| 2006-06-11 | BG World Cup | Richards Bay | 40 |
| 2006-06-23 | European Championships | Autun | DNF |
| 2006-09-17 | Premium European Cup | Kedzierzyn Kozle | 24 |
| 2006-10-08 | European and Pan American Cup, Iberoamerican Championships | Baeza | 3 |
| 2006-10-18 | Premium European Cup | Alanya | 3 |
| 2006-11-05 | BG World Cup | Cancun | 45 |
| 2007-03-04 | Oceania Championships | Geelong | 6 |
| 2007-03-25 | BG World Cup | Mooloolaba | 25 |
| 2007-05-06 | BG World Cup | Lisbon | 8 |
| 2007-06-03 | BG World Cup | Madrid | 8 |
| 2007-06-29 | European Championships | Copenhagen | 6 |
| 2007-07-22 | BG World Cup | Kitzbuhel | 12 |
| 2007-07-29 | BG World Cup | Salford | 14 |
| 2007-08-30 | BG World Championships | Hamburg | 28 |
| 2007-09-15 | BG World Cup | Beijing | 49 |
| 2008-03-09 | Oceania Championships | Wellington | DNF |
| 2008-03-30 | BG World Cup | Mooloolaba | 51 |
| 2008-04-06 | BG World Cup | New Plymouth | DNS |
| 2008-05-04 | BG World Cup | Richards Bay | 5 |
| 2008-05-25 | BG World Cup | Madrid | 8 |
| 2008-06-05 | BG World Championships | Vancouver | 16 |
| 2008-07-20 | BG World Cup | Kitzbuhel | 6 |
| 2008-08-18 | Olympic Games | Beijing | 36 |
| 2008-09-27 | BG World Cup | Lorient | 5 |
| 2008-10-26 | BG World Cup | Huatulco | 3 |
| 2009-03-29 | World Cup | Mooloolaba | 5 |
| 2009-04-05 | Oceania Cup | New Plymouth | 9 |
| 2009-05-02 | Dextro Energy World Championship Series | Tongyeong | 8 |
| 2009-05-31 | Dextro Energy World Championship Series | Madrid | 13 |
| 2009-06-21 | Dextro Energy World Championship Series | Washington DC | 7 |
| 2009-07-02 | European Championships | Holten | 26 |
| 2009-07-11 | Dextro Energy World Championship Series | Kitzbuhel | 3 |
| 2009-08-15 | Dextro Energy World Championship Series | London | 5 |
| 2009-08-22 | Dextro Energy World Championship Series | Yokohama | 4 |
| 2009-09-09 | Dextro Energy World Championship Series: Grand Final | Gold Coast | 9 |
| 2010-03-13 | Oceania Championships | Wellington | 1 |
| 2010-04-11 | Dextro Energy World Championship Series | Sydney | 8 |
| 2010-05-08 | Dextro Energy World Championship Series | Seoul | 21 |
| 2010-06-12 | Elite Cup | Hy-Vee | 12 |
| 2010-07-03 | European Championships | Athlone | 5 |
| 2010-07-24 | Dextro Energy World Championship Series | London | 12 |
| 2010-08-14 | Dextro Energy World Championship Series | Kitzbuhel | DNF |
| 2011-03-26 | World Cup | Mooloolaba | 12 |
| 2011-04-09 | Dextro Energy World Championship Series | Sydney | DNF |
| 2011-06-04 | Dextro Energy World Championship Series | Madrid | 12 |
| 2011-06-18 | Dextro Energy World Championship Series | Kitzbuhel | 6 |
| 2011-06-24 | European Championships | Pontevedra | 7 |
| 2011-08-06 | Dextro Energy World Championship Series | London | 6 |
| 2011-08-20 | Dextro Energy World Championship Series: Sprint World Championships | Lausanne | 6 |
| 2011-09-09 | Dextro Energy World Championship Series, Grand Final | Beijing | 5 |
DNS = did not start · DNF = did not finish · BG = the sponsor British Gas