Olympic sprint champion Jacobs to run in Nairobi

Marcell Jacobs will run his first 100m since winning the Olympic title at this week’s Kip Keino Classic, a World Athletics Continental Gold Tour event in Nairobi, he announced on Sunday.

“May 7. 100m. Nairobi Kenya. Let’s goo!!,” he wrote on Twitter. 

Jacobs will be up against the American Fred Kerley, his runner-up in Tokyo, and the Kenyan Ferdinand Omanyala.

He was originally scheduled to start his 100m season on May 28 as part of the American round of the Diamond League in Eugene, on the track where the World Championships will take place in July.

Jacobs’ coach Paolo Camossi explained in the Italian press that they had been thinking about running a 100m in Tokyo on Sunday but “the trip would have been long and there was a seven-hour time difference”, which they considered too demanding in a difficult season.

They chose Nairobi as a more feasible logistical option.

“All the indications are that Marcell is already in very good shape,” said Camossi. 

“I have no reservations about making him run a lot. And having two runs in his legs before the big meeting in Eugene can only be good for him.”

After Nairobi, Jacobs will test himself, as originally planned, in the 200m at a meeting on May 18 in Savona in Italy.

The 27-year-old Italian sprinter caused a sensation in Tokyo last year by surprisingly winning two titles (100m and 4x100m relay), before ending his season prematurely.

In 2022, he has only competed in the 60 metres indoors, winning the world championship title in March by beating defending champion Christian Coleman in Belgrade.