The Paris Olympics are less than 50 days away and defending 100-meter champion Marcell Jacobs still hasn’t dipped under the 10-second mark in nearly two years.
He’s got another gold medal to hang around his neck, though.
Jacobs clocked a season-best 10.02 to win on his home track and defend his European Championship title on Saturday.
“The times are not what’s important in these competitions, it’s the result that counts,” Jacobs said. “The goal is to be in my best form in two months when it counts even more and I know that I still have a lot of work to do.”
The Texas-born Italian looked smoother in his semifinal heat when he ran 10.05 despite easing through the finish.
“Considering how I felt in the semifinal, we had calculated that I could have ran between 9.92 and 9.95,” Jacobs said. “So when I saw the display I wasn’t very happy. But at the same time, as I said, medals count more than times. Medals remain forever.”
READ | European Athletics Championships 2024: Ireland scupper Bol’s bid for triple Euro gold
After the final, Jacobs was shaking his left calf, which he said was due to a cramp that he felt toward the end of the race, not an injury.
“I had three goals entering this season; to stay healthy, to defend my European title and to win at the Olympics again,” said Jacobs, who dropped his longtime coach last year and moved to Florida to train with American coach Rana Reider. “So far so good.”
Jacobs led an Italian 1-2 with Chituru Ali taking silver in a personal-best 10.05, and Romell Glave of Britain claiming bronze in 10.06.
The last time Jacobs broke the 10-second mark came in August 2022 when he won in 9.95 at the previous Euros in Munich.
Jacobs succeeded Usain Bolt as Olympic champion three years ago in Tokyo when he ran 9.80.
Jakob Ingebrigtsen, the Norwegian world champion whose father was recently accused of abusing one of his other children, won the 5,000 in 13:20.11 by surging ahead in the final 100 meters.
It was Ingebritsen’s fifth European title from the 1,500 to 5,000 — to go with his Olympic gold in the 1,500.
Greek long jumper Miltiadis Tentoglou confirmed he’s intent on defending his Olympic title by improving his own championship record with consecutive leaps of 8.65 in his final two attempts.
It was Tentoglou’s third consecutive European title. He also won the world title last year.
Italian 19-year-old Mattia Furlani took silver with 8.38 to improve his world under-20 record and Simon Ehammer of Switzerland claimed bronze with 8.31
The long jump was held on a raised platform directly in front of one side of the Stadio Olimpico stands.
Cyrena Samba-Mayela of France set a championship record of 12.31 in the 100 hurdles for the best time in the world this season, a positive sign for the host country entering the Paris Games.
Leonardo Fabbri, another Italian standout, won the shot put before his home crowd with a championship record 22.45.
Perseus Karlstrom won the 20-kilometer race walk for his first major championship gold after two silvers and three bronzes at worlds and Euros. The Swede celebrated by performing pushups on the blue track.
Karlstron writes the names of the championships where he won medals inside his walking hat. So now he’s got a golden entry to inscribe.
“My goal,” Karlstrom said, “is that this season is going to be mine.”