Marcell Jacobs caused a sensation. © ANSA / KIYOSHI OTA

9,67 seconds: Jacobs comes close to Bolt

Olympic champion Marcell Jacobs set the third fastest 100-meter time in athletics history – but in much too strong winds.

July 02, 2026

From: dpa/dl

The Italian, who won gold at the 2021 Tokyo Games, clocked a time of 9,67 seconds in Eisenstadt, Austria. The tailwind on Wednesday evening was 4,1 meters per second; the legal limit for a valid result, and therefore also for records, is only two meters per second.

Only Jamaican sprint star Usain Bolt was faster than Jacobs, and that was under legal conditions. Bolt's world record from the 2009 World Athletics Championships in Berlin stands at 9,58 seconds; in 2012 in London, the now-retired Bolt won Olympic gold in 9,63 seconds.

“I’d heard the track here in Eisenstadt was fast, and now I’ve proven for myself that it’s one of the fastest in the world,” Jacobs said, according to the Austrian Athletics Federation. The 31-year-old has set his sights on the title at the European Championships in Birmingham in mid-August. “My form is good, and I’m on the right track,” Jacobs said.