European and Olympic 100m champion Marcell Jacobs will contest the 100m at the Rome Sprint Festival at the Stadio dei Marmi - the warm-up track for the Roma 2024 European Athletics Championships from 7-12 June - on 18 May.
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Jacobs missed the entirety of the indoor season - and the chance to retain his world indoor 60m title in Glasgow - but the Italian, who relocated to Florida during the off-season, is now fully focused and motivated for a busy summer campaign which will see him defend his European and Olympic 100m titles.
"I can’t wait to be there; running at home will be a fantastic experience. I’m looking for redemption after two difficult seasons. This year I will be happy if I manage to defend both my 100m titles at the European Athletics Championships and the Olympics," Jacobs told Sky Sports Italia on his upcoming season’s debut.
Jacobs broke through in 2021 with two gold medals at the Tokyo Olympic Games, winning the 100m title in a European record of 9.80 to become the first European sprinter since Linford Christie in 1992 to land the men’s 100m title before triumphing as part of Italy’s 4x100m relay team.
Jacobs backed up his breakthrough season by winning the world indoor 60m title in Belgrade, in another European record of 6.41, before adding the European 100m gold medal to his title collection at the Munich 2022 European Athletics Championships.
Making Rome Home
And if Jacobs retains his 100m title in front of a packed Stadio Olimpico this June, he will become the first male sprinter since Christophe Lemaitre in 2012 to win back-to-back European 100m titles.
"On a mental level I am fine, I am very relaxed and very focused on training and in September I will be happy if I will confirm my two titles, the Olympic and the European one," he added.
"I am happy to make my debut in Italy in Rome, a city I love and where I will move soon," Jacobs also revealed.
Breathing the atmosphere
Meanwhile, Italtain athletics federation (FIDAL) Technical Director Antonio La Torre appeared at the Milano Running Festival, ahead of this Sunday’s (7) Milano Marathon in a talk dedicated to Roma 2024.
"It will be great to see Jacobs again at the Stadio dei Marmi," added La Torre. "He will be able to start breathing the atmosphere of the Roma 2024 European Athletics Championships in the stadium named (after) Pietro Mennea (1980 Olympic 200m champion).”
The talk, conducted by the Roma 2024 European Athletics Championships Communications Director Fabio Guadagnini, was also attended by the Italian sprinter Roberto Rigali, a 4x100m silver medallist at the World Athletics Championships Budapest 23, the Roma 1987 World Athletics Championships 3000m steeplechase gold medallist Francesco Panetta, former AC Milan footballer and running lover Massimo Ambrosini and Sky Sport Italia journalist Nicola Roggero.
A key moment
“Roma 2024 will be a key moment to understand what role Italy team is going to play at the Olympics Games in Paris. For athletes like Roberto Rigali, it will be a unique opportunity to compete in front of the Italian passionate fans. The technical level of the European Athletics Championships will be high, with international stars as Duplantis, Bol and Ingebrigtsen joining the competition," commented La Torre.
Rigali is also eagerly looking for the European Athletics Championships: "I am proud to be part of this group and of the Roma 2024 generation. Our secret is that we are stronger together. In Rome we want to give our best.”
10km run opportunity at Roma 2024
La Torre also said that plans are in pace for a mass participation race at Roma 2024. "On the morning of the half marathon, Sunday 9 June, there will be a 10km mass race opened to all runners, amateurs and professional will run together," he said.
All details about the course and how to register for the Roma 2024 mass race will be announced in the coming days.