© Emma Delorme / ASO
adidas 10K Paris 2026 : Margaux Sieracki retrouve son trône, Mehdi Frère signe un retour gagnant
Under already blazing sunshine and in front of a record-breaking 44,503 finishers, the adidas 10K Paris 2026 turned the French capital into one giant playground. From the Trocadéro to the Seine quays and the Champs-Élysées, Margaux Sieracki and Mehdi Frère delivered the day’s standout performances, each in their own way, in an edition where spectacle sometimes outweighed the pure hunt for the clock.
Even before 8 a.m., the Trocadéro was already buzzing with warm-ups, final watch checks and focused gazes fixed on the Eiffel Tower glowing in the early light. Against this almost surreal backdrop, 44,503 runners from 133 nationalities prepared to take on the largest 10K in Europe. The 2026 edition of the adidas 10K Paris already had record written all over it before the start. Bibs sold out in just 19 days, confirming the meteoric rise of an event that has become a key fixture on the European running calendar. In the start pens, profiles mixed like rarely before, from seasoned competitors chasing performance to thousands of runners discovering the distance for the first time.
The race was officially started by Mathis Desloges, Olympic cross-country skier and three-time medalist in Milan-Cortina, alongside Cassandre Beaugrand, Olympic triathlon champion and former French 5000m record holder before being overtaken by Sarah Madeleine on June 4. Seconds later, the human wave surged toward the Seine, already cheered on by a large and enthusiastic crowd. The course itself is anything but standard. Paris unfolds its landmarks like a sequence of postcards: from the Louvre to the Opéra Garnier, from the Madeleine to the Champs-Élysées, before the final climb toward Avenue Foch. Stunning, but demanding, with constant changes of rhythm, false flats and cobbled sections breaking the pace.
| Margaux Sieracki reigns again in the capital
The course suited one athlete perfectly: Margaux Sieracki. Already the winner in 2024, the runner from northern France reclaimed her title after a smartly controlled race, marked by a strong push in the final kilometres. She stayed with the leading group for most of the race alongside Manon Trapp and the other favourites, before biding her time and striking in the closing stages. Everything came down around the 7km mark, a key moment in this type of effort. “In a 10K, the real race often starts at 7K,” Sieracki said after the finish. “I felt things slowing a bit at the front. I tucked in behind a pacer before going for it in the last three kilometres.” Perfectly executed, the plan delivered victory in 31:48, smashing her previous course record (32:18), built with patience and a renewed sense of confidence after a difficult spell.
Behind her, Manon Trapp took second place in 32:14 after a strong and courageous run. The 25-year-old marathoner stayed in contention early on but had to cope with a demanding course. “I had my personal best (32:07) in mind, but from kilometre seven it started getting tough,” she admitted. “On the final climb, it felt like I was going backwards.” Still, the French runner continues to build momentum, with Berlin Marathon already marked as a key autumn target.
The podium was completed by Javote Gueret in 32:51 after a close battle with rising newcomer Camille Place and Manuela Ribeiro Dos Santos, both clocked at 32:53. Sarah Hasni finished sixth in 33:10, ahead of Mélanie Allier in 33:29. The top 10 was rounded out by Manon Coste (34:04), Noémie Zamia (34:30) and Paloma F. (34:30), underlining the impressive depth of French running over the distance.
| Mehdi Frère, a winning comeback after two years away
In the men’s race, the story went far beyond sport alone. Mehdi Frère returned to competition after two years away, following a turbulent period in his career. Suspended in June 2024 by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) for three whereabouts failures under anti-doping rules, the French marathoner had seen his Olympic dream for Paris slip away.
After a failed appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), he spent a long spell away from competition before lining up in Paris on Sunday morning. He did not hide the importance of the moment, but kept expectations grounded. “I asked to run here because it’s a race I know well,” said the athlete from Pays de Fontainebleau Athlé. “There was no real pressure. It’s not a course for chasing a time — more of a postcard setting.”
On the sporting side, the return was perfectly controlled. A new personal best of 28:11 (previous best 28:49 back in 2021), Frère took the win ahead of Farah Ayeh (28:52) and Aden Houssein (28:59), in a race he managed from start to finish. He also erased the course reference set by Hassan Chahdi in 2022 (28:19). Beyond the result, however, the focus remains on rebuilding rhythm. “I had no reference points for two years,” he explained. “I was running behind a bike, not against people. I just wanted to test myself and enjoy it.” Unsurprisingly, the marathon remains his long-term priority. The schedule already looks busy, with the International Corrida of Langueux next, followed by a gradual return to full racing form toward the autumn.
| A dense and international men’s top 10
Behind the podium, the fight for the top 10 stayed intense until the end. Aziz Boukebal narrowly missed out on fourth in 29:02, while Antonin Marquant finished fifth in 29:29. Romain Wyndaele followed in 29:33, ahead of Quentin Bouvier in 29:35. Kenyan runner Benedict Karori took eighth in 29:40, Louis Michel was ninth in 29:59, and Brice Morisseau completed the top 10 in 30:12. Eight athletes broke the 30-minute barrier, highlighting the high level of this edition. From start to finish, Djibril Cissé behind the decks helped turn the finish area into a full-blown post-race party.
| A race unlike any other in Europe
Beyond the record-breaking performances, the 2026 edition confirms one thing: the adidas 10K Paris is no longer just a mass participation race, but a hybrid event where elite athletes and recreational runners share the same collective experience. The course may not be built for fast times, but it offers a unique journey through Paris, from the Trocadéro to Avenue Foch, where every kilometre tells its own story. As Frère put it: “Paris is a celebration.” And on this morning, more than 44,000 runners proved exactly that.
✔ Full results of the adidas 10K Paris 2026
Dorian VUILLET
Journalist
