Marcell Jacobs wins the 100 meters in 10’07 at the Roma Sprint Festival
Three weeks before the European Championships in Rome (which will be held from 7 to 12 June), the Olympic champion ran the 100 meters in 10''07: "Wonderful crowd, I have problems with an allergy", said the sprinter who gives See you all at the Olimpico on June 8th
(Archive cover photo)
ROME – The Olympic champion Marcell Jacobs was the absolute protagonist of the Rome Sprint Festival at the Stadio dei Marmi at the Foro Italico: the Fiamme Oro sprinter wins in 10″07 with a tailwind of +1.1, improving by four hundredths the time of Jacksonville’s debut at the end of April, and leaving behindChituru Ali (Fiamme Gialle) who runs in 10″11 and a very good Matteo Melluzzo (Fiamme Gialle), who dropped to 10″13, to become the eighth Italian ever in the 100 metres. A party, an exhilarating crowd, an overwhelming affection: today it was the preview for the European Championships in Rome 2024 which will be held in three weeks (7-12 June).
“The race went quite well – comments Jacobs – but always with some errors at the start. If I had started like in the warm-up there would have been another race. I still missed that part, but I’m happy with the launch. And then I’ve had a sort of allergy for two days, I finished the race unable to breathe, it took me a while to recover, but everything was fine. I am very happy to have raced in this environment, the support from all the public was incredible, I had a lot of fun. For us athletes, cheering is very important, the more they support us, the more we are able to bring out the best in ourselves. Now we’re all waiting at the Olympic stadium for the European Championships“. See you on Saturday 8 June for the semi-final and final of the 100 metres.
“It’s a shame, a few technical errors, but now I’m in the ranking for the Olympics and we’ll still have fun at the European Championships – comments Chituru Ali – The crowd was fabulous, it energized me, only in a stadium like this it can be so close.” In fact, it is a celebration of selfies, autographs and lots of children ‘going crazy’ for the athletics champions.
Who reiterates that she is the great revelation of the Italian sprint in 2024 is Arianna De Masi (Atl. Meneghina) capable of improving up to 11″26 (+1.1) to become the sixth Italian of every era: “We run fast on this track, I knew it after the rally a month ago – the words of the Italian relay runner from Nassau – In Savona it didn’t go as I hoped, today’s result is still not what I can do, but I’m satisfied ”. She precedes the American Shania Collins (11″40) and Chiara Melon (Fiamme Azzurre, 11″57).
Nowadays we can no longer talk about something new. Elisa Valensin (Atl. Bergamo 1959 Oriocenter) at just 17 years old rewrote the Italian U20 200 meters record with 23.15 (-0.4), taking it away from Dalia Kaddari who ran 23.23 in 2020. The young sprinter from Lombardy he clearly improves his personal best of 23.49 and confirms the enormous progress he had already shown in the indoor season, when he in turn established the U20 record. The applause from the Marmi public is for her and also for Zaynab Dosso (Fiamme Azzurre) who returned to the 200 meters after six years for a test after the amazing Italian record of the 100 on Wednesday in Savona: the success was hers with 23″10 Alice Mangione (Army) third with 23.16.
“I took it as training, I experimented, the track is very good, it pushes – Dosso’s words – Maybe I interpreted it a little wrongly, I said ‘I’m going full blast’ but then I struggled in the last 80 meters.” Valensin explodes with joy: “I felt it, in last week’s race in Bergamo I still had it, here on this stratospheric track I felt the energy that Rome gave me, the result was even better than I had hoped for. It’s an incredible feeling to run alongside Zaynab and there’s a super crowd.”
Filippo Tortu (Fiamme Gialle) did not take off, first at the finish line in 20″72 (+0.7) ahead of Marco Ricci (Army) second in 20″97. “I think I did everything wrong – Tortu’s words – exiting the corners was a bit complicated. I thought I would do much better, a time that leaves me amazed on the negative side. The cheering always makes me happy, there are many kids and it is the only positive note of today for me”.
International victories in the 400 metres. In the men’s race, success for the American Trevor Stewart with 45″86 over Vladimir Aceti (Fiamme Gialle) with 46″05 and Riccardo Meli (Fiamme Gialle) with 46″47. In the women’s race, the Dutch Lisanne De Witte stands out with 52″38 ahead of Belgian Camille Laus (Belgium, 52″67) and Giancarla Trevisan (Bracco Atletica, 52″69).