Berlin (AFP)
Italy’s Lamont Marcel Jacobs, the surprise 100m champion at the Tokyo Olympics last summer, crowned his successful return to the track and field by winning the 60m race in 6.51 seconds at the Berlin International Indoor Meeting.
The 27-year-old has not set foot on the track since his Olympic titles in Tokyo in the 100m race and the 4x100m relay race with his country.
Jacobs, who was born in the United States to an American father but was raised in his mother’s country of Italy, advanced over Ivory Coast Arthur Cisse (6.60s) and Frenchman Jimmy Fico (6.61s).
Jacobs, the European champion in the 60m indoor race, confirmed on the eve of the race that he had not set himself any time target for this return to the track, and told Italian media, “Expecting the European record (6.42 seconds for Britain’s Dwayne Chambers) would be a risk, but it is my goal in the season.” Inside the hall.
“The first race should be preparation for the following races: recovery of sensations, smoothness of the race, dynamism, I will not run in Berlin to reach a specific time, my goal will be to win,” which he achieved.
In recent weeks, Jacobs had been forced to give some press interviews without evading critical questions, particularly the doping suspicions raised by his Olympic gold medal.
“As an athlete who represents my country, I would never do anything that could tarnish my reputation or that of my country,” he said last week in a lengthy interview with the British newspaper “Daily Telegraph”, which asked him if it was forbidden to take doping substances in his professional career.
Jacobs stunned the world of “mother of games” by winning the Olympic 100m race title with a time of 9.80 seconds, a “European record”, just three months after he went under ten seconds for the first time in his professional career.
The European indoor title in the 60m race, which Jacobs won last winter with a time of 6.47 seconds, also raised some eyebrows.
Some experts wondered how this rapid development could be achieved without the help of steroids, especially since his dietitian Giacomo Spazzini found himself involved in recent months in a doping case, before he was completely acquitted by the Italian justice last January.
By way of illustration, Jacobs emphasized that for too long in his career he prioritized the long jump, choosing only to sprint later in his career.
He added that this jump in numbers “occurs if you come from another discipline,” explaining, “The fact that you did not run at a distance of 100 meters throughout your career allows you to progress faster and more.”
“My victories are the result of very hard work, work that no one has seen, work in blood, sweat, tears and injuries.”
For his part, the Olympic champion and record holder in the pole vaulting competition Armand Duplantis won the first place, achieving the best number this year by jumping 6.03 meters, one centimeter more than his previous record achieved last week in the German Kallschroe meeting in his first appearance this season.
Duplantis then attempted his world record of 6.18m by jumping 6.19m and came close to that on his third attempt.