Olympic champion Marcell Jacobs eyes busy outdoor season in lead-up to Paris: 'It's just the beginning'
Before Usain Bolt went back-to-back-to-back in the men's 100m at the Olympic Games, it had been some 20 years since Carl Lewis repeated in the marquee athletics event.
In fact, Bolt and Lewis are the only two men to ever repeat as Olympic champion in said event.
So what does Paris 2024 hold for the reigning 100m champion, Marcell Jacobs?
It's been an off-season of change for Jacobs, the 29-year-old Italian, who hadn't competed in nearly eight months before his season debut in late April, skipping the indoor season after changing coaches and training locations.
"Finally, the season has begun!" he wrote in a social media post addressed to his fans after the East Coast Relays, where he was just clipped at the line by Canada's Andre De Grasse, both men registering a 10.11. "It feels great to be back competing."
The surprise winner at Tokyo 2020 in 2021 was honest, however: "I admit I was a bit tense and had many unknowns, but it was a great race," he said.
As Bolt and Lewis well know, it's not how you start, it's how you finish. And it's clear for Jacobs and the team around him that the glittering goal in the distance is, indeed, Paris.
Marcel Jacobs: 'Breaking the ice'
Weeks after Jacobs ran his final race of the 2023 season in early September, it was announced that he would be making a move - across the Atlantic Ocean - ahead of the Olympic year, to train with Rana Reider in Jacksonville.
Reider’s training group includes Trayvon Bromell, the American who is a two-time world medallist in the 100m.
Bromell competed with Jacobs at their (training) home event on 27 April, and while none the top three men – De Grasse included – achieved the Olympic standard of sub-10 seconds, it was the start of the season Jacobs was looking for.
“The most important part was breaking the ice and seeing how the training was going,” he said. “I never tapered for this race; it was part of the training week, and that counts even more!”
“It’s just the beginning of a great season,” he added. “Now, focus and heart on the relay world championships.”
The World Athletics Relays Bahamas 24 are set for this weekend (4 & 5 May), featuring an all-star cast of sprinters across all three disciplines, with both the 4x100m and 4x400m being featured.
It marks the next step for Jacobs in his path towards Paris.
Busy season ahead for Jacobs
After a jam-packed indoor season, Jacobs raced only a handful of times outdoors last year, where he made the semi-finals at the World Championships in the 100m.
He helped the Italians to a silver in the 4x100m relay, however, teaming with the same expected quartet this weekend in Nassau, featuring Jacobs, Roberto Rigali, and Olympic champs Lorenzo Patta and Filippo Tortu.
From there, Jacobs will head to the Roma Sprint Festival (18 May) and then to Ostrava, Czechia, at the end of the month before the European Athletics Championships 7-12 June, also in Rome.
For an athlete that has struggled to stay 100 percent fit since his stunning gold at Tokyo 2020, the challenge lays before him: Build up to Paris and the potential of defending his Olympic gold while also staying healthy.
"It's just the beginning of a great season," he wrote after Jackson. He sure would like to make it one.