Where is Olympic champion Marcell Jacobs?

After the Olympics is before the harvest time. Now the results should be converted into silver coins. The meetings of the so-called Diamond League are on the program. It is the highest of the three athletics series under the care of World-Athletics, the umbrella organization for runners, jumpers and throwers. An attempt is made from Monte Carlo to give structure to these events, which always take place in the evening and last a maximum of two hours. Finding some kind of balance when it comes to participation, which is why points are awarded for this. And – to put it simply – you can then start at world championships with a good score even if the national standard has not been met. They are a spectacle, these meetings and actually always a guarantee for top performance. Anyone who is self-respecting is there and wants to be there because the entry fees are attractive and there is also prize money on offer.

26 Olympic champions have already registered for the first meeting in Europe on August 19th in Lausanne (Switzerland). Anyone who couldn't and wasn't allowed to be in Tokyo has the opportunity to see the elite of the core Olympic sport of athletics up close. And Lausanne in particular has it all. I can still remember the world record set by Leroy Burrell (USA) in 1994 as if it were yesterday. At that time he ran 9,85 seconds. The time lasted two years before Canadian Donovan Bailey ran a hundredth of a second faster at the Olympics. Since then, the world record has been improved six times. There was a betting slip in the press center before Burrell's record run. Journalists were allowed to enter the possible winning time. I wrote down 9,85 and was lucky enough to win the draw for those with similar foresight. There was, how could it be otherwise, a Swiss watch as a small gift. Lots of rumors about Jacobs And this year? Of course there will be no new world record. Usain Bolt's mark from the World Championships in Berlin of 9.58 seconds is still a dizzying number. The unforgettable run took place on August 16, 2009. It was also a milestone for me as a commentator. Bolt came to Berlin as an Olympic champion. So now would be the time for the Italian triumphant from Tokyo, Marcell Lamont Jacobs, to show the world that the success and the time of 9.80 seconds are on solid ground. Participation in Lausanne and later perhaps at the finals in Zurich and Brussels would be the perfect stage for Jacobs. Marcell Jacobs has not yet been able to dispel the rumors surrounding him. © APA/afp / JEWEL SAMAD

But the new sprint star has announced that he will not be taking part in any more races this year. Rumors emerged that the 26-year-old was looked after in a diffuse environment last year by a so-called nutritionist and fitness trainer. Investigations have been underway against Giacomo Spazzini since 2019, who apparently also boasted about having a part in Jacobs' performance explosion. By the way, Spazzini was illegally dealing in steroids. Jacobs has ended the collaboration since March and of course denies any suspicion of doping. But to really dispel all doubts, it would have been advisable to show up. If he has a knee injury, as is rumored, then the press conference at the Lausanne meeting would have been a wonderful opportunity to show himself to the public. Even if only as a spectator. It would have been an image gain for Jacobs, but it is a bitter loss of image. So the shadow remains over Jacobs The fact that the British member of the 4x100m silver relay team, Chijindu Ujah, has since been suspended for suspected doping, as announced by the Athletics Integrity Unit of the World Athletics Association, may have triggered a certain amount of schadenfreude on the part of Jacobs, as there were doubts about the Italian team, especially from Great Britain successes (gold also in the 4x100m relay). There remains a certain uncertainty about Jacob's improvement to 9.80 seconds, especially since he was the only athlete in the final in Tokyo who was not one of the sprinters who were preferred to be tested. He wasn't good enough for that before and was therefore not the focus of possible manipulation. The shadow over Jacobs remains, even if the two gold medals still have the power to scare away the evil spirits. Let's hope for Jacobs and all athletics romantics that it stays that way. Of course, I wouldn't want to bet on that.

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Where is Olympic champion Marcell Jacobs?

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