Marcell Jacobs exclusive: ‘I’d like to be remembered as the fastest man on earth, but I’ve been through a lot to get there’

Marcell Jacobs may be 28 years old, but the reigning Olympic 100m champion and former long jumper isn’t joking when he calls himself a “very young sprinter”.

“In 2019, I made the decision to stop long jump and switch to sprinting,” said the first-ever Italian 100m gold medallist in history when explaining his transformation from the world of field athletics to one of the greatest short-distance runners on the planet. “That was the moment I got back into the game.”

At the time, Jacob’s personal best in the 100m was a relatively modest 10.08, and it was only two months before Tokyo 2020, in 2021, that he became the 150th man in history to break the 10-second mark with a then Italian record run of 9.95.

It’s safe to say he was an underdog at the last Olympic Games.

Yet, in a thrilling race just two years into his new sprinting career, Jacobs created history, running 9.80 in the Olympic final to claim the gold medal and the title of ‘world’s fastest man’.

Since that moment there have been highs - such as his victories in last year's World Indoor Championships 60m and European Championships 100m - and lows - including the injury that saw him pull out of the 2022 World Athletics Championships before the semi-finals - as Jacobs has adapted to the new pressures that come with being the champion of athletics’ blue-riband event.

But the fire still burns brightly in the Texas-born sprinter who is on a mission to cement his status at Paris 2024.

“Winning once is already a slice of history,” he said. “Winning twice makes you part of history.”

Marcell Jacobs: Taking the mantle of an Olympic legend

Probably the most-asked question from athletics fans and experts heading into Tokyo 2020 was this: how do you replace a legend like Usain Bolt?

By the time those Olympics took place in 2021, the world had only known one 100m champion since Beijing 2008 (where Bolt won the first of his three Olympic 100m titles) and people were waiting with bated breath to see just who would inherit the Jamaican’s crown.

Jacobs was still a full three years away from becoming a full-time sprinter when Bolt won his last Olympic title at Rio 2016, in the same year the Italian triumphed in his national long jump championship.

It’s fair to say that no one could have predicted the impact his switch of sports would have on the world of track & field.

Fast-forward to Tokyo 2020 and even the idea of Jacobs reaching the final in Japan would have been historic as, before him, no Italian in history had made it to the gold-medal race.

But while the world was focused on more seasoned sprinters, such as the USA’s Fred Kerley - now world 100m champion, Canada’s Rio 2016 100m bronze medallist Andre De Grasse and even Africa’s fastest man Akani Simbine, Jacobs confounded expectations, crossing the line to become the new Olympic champion.

It was one of the great highlights of the Tokyo 2020 Games and also among the finest underdog performances in history. However, crowns like these can weigh heavy on the head and doubts soon began to surface in Jacobs’ mind.

“When I came home immediately after the Olympics, I asked myself, ‘What now? What do I do?’ Because my whole life in sports was focused on winning the Olympics, which is every athlete’s dream because there’s nothing greater to win.

“Everything was always about that, so there was a week when I tried to figure out my next goal. All my life I’d worked for that, but when you achieve it, what can you do?”

Marcell Jacobs: Dealing with the pressure of being Olympic champion

While Jacobs was left questioning how to move on from a goal that had been the focal point of his career as an athlete, there were other pressures mounting as people’s expectations of what he should do next weighed heavy on his mind.

But alongside sports psychologist Nicoletta Romanazzi, who he has been working with since September 2020, he has adopted methods to deal with the external demands that being an athlete in the spotlight puts on you.

“Do you know the weight a simple phrase like, ‘We’re all here for you’ puts on your shoulders? That you’re running for everyone who is there watching you?” he asked. “It weighs on you like a boulder. So you have to create a bubble in which you listen to everything but only absorb what you need…

“The thing I lacked was that I was always afraid of other people judging me, so I used to say, 'I’m going to this race but if I don’t run well what will those people write and think?'”

He came to the realisation that he could only focus on his own expectations. And the "bubble" he has created around him continues to help him grow and flourish as an athlete with “body and mind” in perfect harmony.

Marcell Jacobs, Valentino Rossi and the secret to staying grounded

Along with the outside pressures of being Olympic champion, there is a temptation to lose oneself in the admiration and newfound fame that comes along with it.

But for Jacobs, mingling with celebrities he once idolised has taught him that even the biggest stars are just normal people trying their best to keep their feet on the ground.

“I watched every Valentino [Rossi] MotoGP race. Who wasn’t following him?” he said of the lessons he learned from a first meeting with the nine-time Grand Prix motorcycle world champion.

“We were on the sofa watching him every weekend, then I got to meet him in real life and you realise he’s just a simple person like all of us.”

This experience, and those he has shared with other high-profile athletes he now circulates with regularly, showed Jacobs that you don’t have to change who you are just because the outside world sees you differently.

“Obviously they rewrote history but when you interact with them it’s not like they’re extra-terrestrials,” he said. “They are there because of their sport, because of what they do, but they are very human and it’s a pleasure to be with them, spend time with them and talk with them.”

Marcell Jacobs: It's just the beginning for Italy’s history maker

While Jacobs’ victory at Tokyo 2020 was a surprise to many, he now faces a new kind of pressure as someone who is expected to be victorious every time he races.

“As difficult as it is to win, it’s even more difficult to keep winning and maintain the same level, because the pressure from the media is always increasing,” he told us.

“But that’s also fun, it’s nice to just be yourself and enable people who don’t experience it on a daily basis to understand what it means to practise a sport and reach a certain level.”

Although 2022 was an injury-ridden year for Jacobs, he did solidify his position at the top of the sprinting world with his gold medals in the 60m at the World Indoor Championships in Belgrade and another 100m victory at the European Championships in Munich.

Now he is only 18 months away from Paris 2024 and the chance to cement his place in the history books - even if he’s in no hurry to start focusing on those new dreams right now.

“I don’t want to go too fast or look too far ahead without enjoying what I want to do… I have to keep my feet on the ground and remind myself that there’s still a long way to go. But obviously Paris will be a pivotal moment,” he said.

And when he talks about the legacy he’d like to leave when he does eventually call time on his career in athletics, Jacobs is clear about how he wants people to view him:

“I’d like to be remembered as the fastest man on earth… but someone who’s been through a lot to get there.”

Marcell Jacobs races on 4 February in the World Indoor Tour Bronze meeting Orlen Cup in Lodz.