by Larry EderMarcell Jacobs is the first Italian Olympic champion in the 100 meters ever! In March 2022, Marcel Jacobs defeated Christian Coleman over 60 meters in Belgrade, Serbia, at the World Indoor Championships.
Going into the World Athletics Outdoor Championships, the European Indoor Champ, World Indoor Champ and Olympic champion, Marcell Jacobs has stirred up excitement in Italy and all across Europe.
This piece is an update on Marcell Jacobs’s current decision to withdraw from the Nike Pre Classic, to insure his health and fitness for July 14-25, when it really counts.
Marcell Jacobs, photo by KIP KEINO CLASSIC
Marcell Jacobs, March 2022, 2022 World Athletics Indoor Championships, Belgrade, Serbia, photo by Getty Images for World Athletics
The challenges in being an Olympic champion: Marcell Jacobs
I remember it well. I was up around 3 AM in Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin in March 2021, watching the European Indoor Championships in Torun, Poland. I was on the European broadcasting platform, and was able to watch everything!
It was there that I became aware of Marcell Jacobs. All I knew was that he had a parent who was American and a parent who was Italian. Then, the broadcasters
noted that he had begun as a long jumper. I recall my notes, that Marcell looked really strong, and wondered if he could run fast.
In the heats, he looked pretty darn good, and as each round went on, Marcell Jacobs looked, well, in control In the final, Jacobs took the title, and I believe he was a bit surprised.
Marcell Jacobs, 2021 European Athletics 60m champion, photo by Getty Images for European Athletics
That summer, he started making going sub 10 seconds in the 100m on a consistent basis. By the time Marcell Jacobs got to Tokyo, he was running well, but with Bingtian Su, Trayvon Brommell, Andre De Grasse, and Fred Kerley among others in the Olympics.
After the Olympic semi-finals, Bingtian Su of China looked the best. But many, especially Europeans, noted that Marcell Jacobs had set PBs in the heats, and semi-finals.
Marcell Jacobs takes Olympic 100m, photo by Star Gazer Pix via Peacock TV
In the final, “Crazy Long Jumper “, aka Marcell Jacobs took control midway into the race and ran away from the field, running 9.80, a new Italian record and
European record. Marcell Jacobs became the first Italian to ever win the Olympic 100 meters. Marcell also was on the Italian team in the 4x100m, taking the gold for his team. An amazing Olympics for FIDAL, the Italian federation, with wins at the men’s 100m, men’s 4x100m relay, and men’s high jump, Men’s 20k and Women’s 20k. In fact, Italy had won no medals in 2016, and their 36 medals in Tokyo (all sports) surpassed the former medal record set by Italy in LA 1932!
Marcell Jacobs endured scandalous rumors last summer, with also the silly social media opinion that as Christian Coleman was not in Tokyo, Mr. Jacobs’ gold medal was less than legitimate. We will deal with that rumor first. Here’s the deal. If you do not play, you can not win. Coleman was dealing with an 18-month ban. That was not Jacobs’ fault. Marcell Jacobs defeated all sprinters who made the final, and that is a fact.
In March 2022, Marcell Jacobs met an on form Christian Coleman and Marvin Bracy. The 60-meter final was close, but Marcell Jacobs’s mid-race was stronger than Coleman’s and the Italian stallion took the gold medal.
Marcell Jacobs over Christian Coleman, Marvin Bracy, 2022 World Indoor Championships, photo by Getty Images for World Athletics
At this time, Marcell Jacobs goes into the World Championships (July 14-25) in Eugene, Oregon as Olympic champion and World Indoor Champion. He will be trying to dethrone Christian Coleman, the 2019 World Champion at 100 meters.
He has had some hiccups outdoors in 2022, but that is pretty normal when the eyes of the world are following you on Instagram, Twitter, FB, newspapers, TV, and sporting events. Jacobs is now a global star.
Marcell Jacobs, Nairobi International Airport, photo by KIP KEINO CLASSIC
Mr. Jacobs was to open at the KIP KEINO CLASSIC on May 6, 2022, in Nairobi, Kenya. Unfortunately, Marcell suffered stomach distress from a reported food poisoning.
“Nairobi was not the best week in my life, ” noted Marcell Jacobs to the media (see Olympic column: https://olympics.com/en/news/olympic-champion-marcell-jacobs-100m-win-savona).
Marcell Jacobs went back to Italy, recovered, and opened at the Meeting Savona, on May 18, 2022.
Jacobs ran a 9.99 wind-aided time in the heats, and in the final, battled Arthur Cisse, from the Ivory Coast (Cote d’Ivoire) only catching him at the 80 meter mark, building to a lead in those last 20 meters, running 10.04. In the column on the Olympics site, (https://olympics.com/en/news/olympic-champion-marcell-jacobs-100m-win-savona), the writer described the effort by the Olympic champion as “labored”.
Marcell Jacobs told the assembled media: ” I struggled a bit.”
Marcell Jacobs is surprisingly transparent. He admitted to “being a bit rusty” and noted that he was just not in the shape that he wanted as of yet.
On May 24, 2022, FIDAL, the Italian federation, announced that their prized Olympic champion will not be running at the Nike Pre Classic this coming weekend. Marcell Jacobs has a muscle issue and has to rest and rehabilitate for ten days in Rome, with his coach Paolo Camossi (https://www.fidal.it/content/Jacobs-niente-Diamond-League-a-Eugene/140647?fbclid=IwAR2H8H5QV-FP42afjmiJCFG8WnpT74zAHUcf7ura8f3b04NtZtw1wnBqRYk). The withdrawal came after a series of diagnostic tests by Jacobs medical team, and a discussion with FIDAL, the medical team and Jacobs’ coach, Mr. Camossi.
The Nike Pre Classic is the meet where most Nike athletes have a clause in their contracts to compete in most years. The Men’s 100m, which this writer spoke about in a podcast (https://www.runblogrun.com/2022/05/conversations-with-larry-the-pre-mens-100m-will-be-amazing.html), believes was the finest 100m field ever assembled in a non-Olympic final.
The bottom line is this. Fans may get upset, but the men’s 100m at the Nike Pre will be fantastic, it just won’t be insane. We will have to say, that the drama building for the Eugene World Championships is going to continue to build.
For Marcell Jacobs, the Olympic and World Indoor champion have a target on his back. All of the world’s sprinters are training to defeat him.
Marcell Jacobs has inspired many young Italians and Europeans to try sprinting. Jacobs is a huge talent, and his coach Paolo Camossi has used his core and leg strength to help him become a better sprinter. His race, from 60 meters to the finish, is terribly tough.
If you look at the race again, the World Indoors, you will note that Jacobs just edged Coleman at the finish. In the Olympic final, Jacobs ran away from the field.
How will it be in Eugene? Well, Marcell Jacobs has to be prepared for tremendous pressure, and fascination with the Italian star.
Marcell Jacobs, 2022 World Indoor Champs presser, photo by Getty Images for World Athletics
This is very good for our sport. Great athletes from around the world, 200 plus countries, will venture into Eugene, Oregon, in Lane County, Oregon. Amid the beautiful trees on the campus, in the sanctuary of sport that is the new Hayward Field, seventeen thousand fans will see the best athletes in the world, live.
Marcell Jacobs, the Italian sprint star, the Olympic, European Indoor, and World Indoor champion will be as ready as he can and Coach Canossi can do.
Mr. Jacobs and his coach, Mr. Canossi also realize that their potential competitors will give Jacobs no quarter.
This will be a magnificent race!
To read more on Marcell Jacobs:
Olympic champion withdraws from Pre Classic, from Reuters.com: https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/olympic-champion-jacobs-withdraws-eugene-diamond-league-meet-2022-05-24/?rpc=401&
Marcell Jacobs, no Diamond League for Eugene (translated from Italian), by FIDAL.it: https://www.fidal.it/content/Jacobs-niente-Diamond-League-a-Eugene/140647?fbclid=IwAR2H8H5QV-FP42afjmiJCFG8WnpT74zAHUcf7ura8f3b04NtZtw1wnBqRYk
Marcell Jacobs wins the World Indoor 60m! Olympic champion defeats the world indoor champion! from RunBlogRun.com https://www.runblogrun.com/2022/03/2022-wa-indoor-belgrade-the-olympic-champion-defeats-the-world-indoor-champion-marcell-jacobs-takes-.html#more
Five things to know about shock Olympic 100m champion, Marcell Jacobs: https://olympics.com/en/news/athletics-tokyo-100m-mens-olympic-champ-marcell-jacobs-profile. from Olympics.com
