Marcell Jacobs will be absent from the 100m race at the Diamond League's 2023 Florence meet due to an ongoing recovery from a back injury.
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The reigning Olympic gold medallist, Marcell Jacobs, will be absent from the 100m race at the Diamond League’s 2023 Florence meet due to an ongoing recovery from a back injury, as reported by the Italian athletics governing body. The federation issued a statement on Tuesday explaining that Jacobs’ recuperation from the recent setback hasn’t been entirely successful, necessitating his withdrawal. His persistent discomfort led to his decision to not participate in the previous Diamond League meet in Rabat on May 28, 2023. This marks the second time in this year’s Diamond League series that Jacobs, aged 28, has opted to withdraw. He identified a lombo sacral nerve block as the primary cause of his non-attendance in Rabat.
Sports enthusiasts were eagerly awaiting the anticipated showdown between the Olympic champion Jacobs and world champion, Fred Kerley, at these World Athletics meets. Jacobs made waves when he prevailed in the Olympic race, following in Usain Bolt’s footsteps, while Kerley earned the silver medal at the rescheduled Tokyo 2020 Olympics. However, their much-awaited rematch has been continually delayed due to Jacobs’ frequent race withdrawals. The latest withdrawal from the Diamond League 2023 Florence marks a minimum of seven such incidents within the past year.
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Following his Olympic triumph, Marcell Jacobs announced a gap due to exhaustion and subsequently pulled out from two upcoming Diamond League meets. His 2022 outdoor season was slated to kick off with a 100 meters sprint at the 2022 Kip Keino Classic held in Nairobi, Kenya. However, a sudden hospitalization due to a gastrointestinal infection affected his participation. He eventually initiated his outdoor season by clinching the victory at an international competition in Savona with a performance of 10.04 seconds. Suffering a minor injury to his biceps femoris, he made the decision to withdraw from three Diamond League meets on his schedule. Jacobs also pulled out prior to the semi-finals at the 2022 World Championships due to a thigh complication.
During the rescheduled Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Marcell Jacobs brought home the gold medal with a recorded time of 9.80 seconds, surpassing competitors Fred Kerley (9.84 seconds) and Andre De Grasse (9.89 seconds). Jacobs made history by becoming the first Italian athlete to participate in an Olympic 100m final. His record-breaking performance surpassed the European record he had earlier set during the semi-finals, marking the fastest sprint by a non-American or non-Jamaican athlete. Further, Jacobs earned another gold medal in the 4×100 metres relay as part of the Italian team, alongside Lorenzo Patta, Fausto Desalu, and Filippo Tortu. This victory marked Italy’s first win and medal in this event in over seven decades. Jacobs’ part in the relay was second leg (split time: 8.925), contributing to the team’s cumulative time of 37.50 seconds, which established a new Italian record. For his exceptional performance, Jacobs was chosen to carry the Italian flag during the closing ceremony of the Olympics.
Jacobs resumed competition in February 2022, emerging victorious in the 60 m race at the ISTAF Indoor meet in Berlin, with a time of 6.51 seconds. He improved his season best to 6.49 seconds in subsequent races, which included winning the national 60 m indoor title. He attended the world indoor championships in Belgrade and posted the 5th quickest time of the season. In a thrilling final, he narrowly defeated Christian Coleman by three thousands of a second, setting a new European record of 6.41 seconds. This victory crowned him as the gold medalist and the 4th fastest man in history at this distance. At the European Championships 2022 held in Munich, Jacobs came out on top in the 100m final with a time of 9.95 seconds, pushing reigning champion Zharnel Hughes to the runner-up spot (9.99s).
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