One of the peaks of Italian sport in history is certainly the gold won by Marcell Jacobs at Tokyo 2020then repeated by the double during the 4×100 relay. After that glorious Olympics, however, Marcell lost some of his luster and was no longer able to replicate the incredible results obtained on Japanese soil, crossing the finish line in fifth place Paris 2024running the 100 meters in 9.85 seconds. The American won that race Noah Lyles, stopping the clock at 9.79 seconds. And it is precisely when comparing the time with which Lyles won the gold medal in the Transalpine region and that recorded yesterday by Marcell Jacobs that it makes you rub your eyes.
But let’s rewind the tape a few months, returning to a turning point in Jacobs’ career. 2026 has just begun when Marcell, to definitively regain momentum ahead of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, decides to end the working relationship with the American coach Rana Reider. Paolo Camossi returns in his place, the coach with whom the sprinter achieved the two gold medals in Tokyo. And the results don’t take long to arrive.
In Paris, on the occasion of the French stage of Diamond League, he had managed to break the 10 second barrier again. Evident signs of recovery, with a return to an ad hoc physical form that appears ever closer. And the confirmation came shortly after in Austria, when yesterday Marcell ran faster than lightning. TO Eisenstadt, a small town about fifty kilometers from Vienna, in a packed Leichathletik Arena, although extremely limited in capacity, the Tokyo Olympic gold medalist runs the 100 meters in the shortest time ever recorded in his careerwinning with the exceptional time of 9 seconds and 67 hundredths. Unfortunately, there is a “but”, and it is represented by the atmospheric conditions which favored the sprinters’ times, but invalidated the race. Jacobs and his opponents were pushed by a very strong gust of wind, which allowed the athletes to gain just over 4 meters per second. Too much to be valid, but the sensations after the race are excellent. In fact, in classic conditions Marcell would have recorded a time oscillating between 9″87 and 9″88.
They will take place between 10 and 16 August the European Championships in Birminghamin the United Kingdom, where we hope Marcell Jacobs can write another page of Italian sporting history, after having definitively rediscovered his enthusiasm.
