PARIS“I believe in the medal, but I have no regrets because I gave it my all. The others did very well. I’m sorry because I wanted to celebrate another gold medal with all the Italians, but Jacobs’ career does not end here.”
So says Marcell Jacobs, the Tokyo 2020 Olympic 100m champion, after his fifth place finish in the Paris 2024 final last night. Jacobs, speaking to Rai, then reassured about his condition after leaving the track with his left thigh bandaged.
“Nothing serious, just a cramp. I’ll be back on track tomorrow,” he said, referring to the 4×100. Jacobs added immediately after the race: “I can’t be too happy, I had great reaction times, but in the pushing part I couldn’t.
“In the end, I always try to show my best in important races, I’m sorry because I worked very hard and I think I could have won a medal – he added – This fifth place gives me satisfaction, I gave it my all, but it wasn’t enough. My career is not over here, I still have 4 long years to live”.
As for the thigh problem, “it’s just a cramp, I’ll be ready for the relay.”
RACE
(Usain Bolt is still at Olympus, Marcell Jacobs is only fifth but is honored in the second final of the Games, this time in a packed stadium, seething with passion and enthusiasm. Running as fast as he did this year, in 9 “85, it was not enough for the Italian to step on the podium in the 100m, to do as ‘Il Lampo’ or assert himself as Olympic champion. So after abdicating, he sadly left the Stade de France track, hitting himself several times on the back of his left thigh.
The winner was his most recognised rival, as the reigning world champion, the historical figure born Noah Lyles, who, while jumping for joy, was applauded by actress Sharon Stone, who stood up to defend him in the stands. Lyles, at 9’79, won the photo-op over the best runner so far in Paris, namely the Jamaican athlete Kishane Thompson, trained by Stephen Francis, who made Asafa Powell great and now leads this other champion, who reached 100 points in less than 42 steps and when launched, it was really beautiful to look at.
It was too bad for him that the star Lyles had beaten him by a hair. But Jacobs was the man of the day, the most celebrated in both the semi-final and the medal challenge, and his race to the podium was in vain. It would not have been enough if he had had one of his best reaction times to the shot, and then pushed like hell to beat at least Fred Kerley (eventually bronze), as he did in Tokyo, or even Akani Simbine, a South African permanently placed. The African hung another ‘cardboard medal’. Jacobs consoled himself with the pride of a champion, however, who did not lower his guard, gave it all and changed his life by coming to Florida, and now he will try to make up for it in the relay, if his physical problems allow. From the competition area, Marcell left with a noticeable limp, but tried to reassure everyone by saying it was “just a cramp”.
Earlier, the day of Italian athletics, although Pietro Arese qualified for the 1500m final, was not very favorable due to the news of Gianmarco Tamberi’s health. The relevant person, who is training at the Formia technical center and should have been in Paris from today, spread them. Instead, first a “stinging pain in the side” and then the discovery of possible kidney stones and a fever of 38.8 forced him to postpone his departure. It was certainly not a good start for ‘Gimbo’, who is currently confined to bed.
But he vowed that he would be on stage anyway, no matter what, to prepare for the high school qualifiers next Wednesday, from 10:05 a.m. And by the way, in the final of this women’s competition, the duel between Ukrainian world record holder Yaroslava Mahuchikh and Australian Nicola Olyslagers was a real spectacle.
But, in addition to talent, the dancers’ motivation was not only for themselves, but also for a whole nation that could only gain the upper hand: Yaroslava, who had to leave her home because the front line was less than a hundred kilometers away, represented Ukraine “which never gives up, and a people who fight in a thousand ways against all difficulties”.
To prove it, if it was still necessary, the bronze medal of Iryna Gershchenko, again in the women’s event, and the bronze medal of Mykhaylo Kokhan in the hammer event, because this, in addition to Lyles’ day, is also Ukraine’s.