It’s one of the highlights of the Olympic Games: The men’s 100 metre sprint. Dominated by the legendary Usain Bolt for years – including the 9.63s Olympic record he ran in London 2012 – a new generation has stepped up to take the throne.
In Tokyo 2020, Lamont Marcell Jacobs of Italy stunned the world to claim gold in a European record 9.80s. A few days later, he claimed a second gold as Italy won the 4x100m relay.
After his stunning success in Tokyo, Jacobs went off the radar, citing fatigue and a knee problem.
His conspicuous absence from repeated meets raised eyebrows and brought criticism that still stings.
“What hurt me was that people didn’t understand that we are not robots, we are not machines. We are human,” he said.
“We work every day at 100% with our body, so it’s normal to have some difficulties, some injury.
“The problem with doping (accusations) after the Olympics didn’t touch me because I know what I have to do to get a win, so I know what is not true.
“It’s hard to survive at the Olympics and win, but it’s harder to continue to win.
“So for that, you have a lot of injury and people didn’t understand that.
“In Italy, we never had an Italian guy make the Olympic final, but I won and they continued to criticise me. So it hurt me.”
The 29-year-old told reporters he was back at the Summer Games for one reason only: to defend his title in one of its standout events.
“I’m the Olympic champion. I want to win again,” Jacobs told reporters. “I know what I can do. I know I am the Olympic champion. I won the 100m at the Olympic Games. I worked really hard to get here to win again … so I can do the double.”
Jacobs showed his determination to bag back-to-back golds by up-ending his life, both professionally and personally, changing coach in an Olympic year and moving, with his family, to the United States to work under Rana Reider.
It seems to have paid off as Jacobs claimed a second European title in Rome in June.
“Of course I’ve changed since Tokyo,” he said. “It was three years ago.”
Since then, Jacobs added, “I win, I lose, I have a lot of injury. I change everything. I change country and change coach, so I’m different, but I’m better”.
AUSSIE BLOG: Follow all the Day Nine action!
‘WE MADE THE F***ING OLYMPICS’: Aussie’s demand after elimination
‘THIS IS A DISASTER’: Olympic champ’s glaring absence
Yet if Jacobs is to win in Paris, he’ll have to beat an American superstar in Noah Lyles.
World Athletics president Sebastian Coe dubbed him an “absolute rock star,” a fitting accolade for Lyles, whose Adidas contract renewal this season was described as the biggest since Bolt’s with Puma.
It is a fascinating clash between the mercurial Italian and the livewire American — the former defending his surprising title from Tokyo and the latter trying to rubberstamp the image of himself as the rightful successor to Usain Bolt.
The two could not be more of a contrast physically — Jacobs is all muscles while Lyles has remained lithe, but on form since the Olympics the American is odds-on favourite.
Lyles claimed bronze in Tokyo in the 200m, and owns the third fastest time in history in that event.
But since then, with Jacobs battling injuries and illnesses, Lyles has dominated.
Lyles took a major step towards his 100m gold dream by winning treble gold (100, 200 and 4x100m relay) at last year’s world championships in Budapest.
“I know exactly where I am ahead of Paris,” said Lyles, who arrived in Paris after setting a personal best of 9.81sec at the London Diamond League. “The more eyes on me, the better I perform, or at least that’s what my therapist says. When the TV cameras are on me and people are there, I am not losing.”
After that win in London, Lyles sent a message to his rivals, which also includes Jamaican Kishane Thompson, the fastest man of the year after his 9.77sec in Kingston last month.
“I beat everyone that I touch,” Lyles said. “I don’t see why the Jamaicans are any different. This is what I pray for, this is what I live for and I back myself up, don’t I?”
His brazen approach rubs many other people up the wrong way, not least legions of NBA basketball players — and their fans — after Lyles had questioned their claim to be real “world champions”.
Lyles cruised through his seat in second with a time of 10.04s, marginally better than Jacobs’ 10.05s in his own heat (also second). 23-year-old Jamaican star Thompson won his heat easily in a 10.00s. Yet outside that star-studded trio, there’s a host of stars looking to topple the big names and make their own mark on history.
That includes American duo Kenneth Bednarek and Tokyo silver medallist Fred Kerley, who topped the heats with equal times of 9.961s – two of five runners to go under 10 seconds.
In the three semi-finals, the first two finishers go through to the final, while the next two fastest overall (across the three semis) also advance.
Lyles will compete in the first semi-final against another Jamaican in Oblique Seville, whose personal best is just 0.01s behind Lyles’ 9.81s. Jacobs and Bednarek headline the second semi, while Kerley and Thompson will do battle in the third semi alongside Tokyo bronze medallist Andre de Grasse of Canada.
The semi-finals begin at 4:05am AEST on Monday morning, before the final at 5.50am.
Source Agencies
