so he wants to regain speed - Corriere.it

The debut in Lodz (6"57) was not just rust, the defeat of Lievin (6"57) after two years of unbeaten run was more than a lesson to be learned, the kappa from Ancona at the Assoluti indoor, his kingdom, opens a crack in the season of Marcell Jacobs. Houston, we have a problem. The Olympic champion no longer knows how to win. And, what's worse, it gets to the end to the 60 of the final lost with Samuele Ceccarelli, 23-year-old Tuscan who had made the (personal) bang in Berlin in 6"58, touching the bandaged left thigh (adductor), a grimace on his face, little reassuring explanations: If it had been a 100m I would have stopped. I was in a racing condition that highlighted a problem somewhere, I'd like to understand where: it didn't allow me to continue racing.

The long-awaited ring did not arrive. And that Ceccarelli (athletics embraced late, at the age of 16, after karat competitions, a Tuscan from Massa in his fifth year of law school in Pisa, trained by Marco Del Medico) was in great shape, one had guessed but it was fantastic to think that he could beat in king of Olympia. And instead one hundredth of difference (6”54 against 6”55), excavated in the launched phase - that is, in the moment in which the best Jacobs greets his opponents - throws the Olympic, world and continental champion into the hall, who in 13 days will be called to defend his title at the European Championships (if confirmed in Istanbul after the earthquake in Turkey). In the photos with the fans, Marcell tries to smile, due to his gloomy mood (despite the comforting embrace of Gimbo Tamberinon-competing host and adventure partner in the extraordinary day of the double Olympic gold in Tokyo): It burns because it's the first Italian title I've lost after I don't know how many years, but I will never stop putting myself on the line. There are still many technical things to fix, in the heat it was a totally different race. We must work. We need to review the various parts of the race and understand where the problem is. Now in the lead are the indoor European Championships, a stage of transition for the outdoor season.

The open air debut (in Rabat on May 28 or at the Golden Gala in Florence on June 2), now, it seems so far away. Jacobs would have liked to get there on the wings of a growing season in the theater, which at this point (provided that the discomfort in his thigh is not more serious than a hardening: the exams today in Rome will clarify) must be straightened out with a backlash in the last available match: the European Championship.

The smiles, the tears in my eyes, the authentic disbelief are of Ceccarelli, who would also have been happy to finish second: There are no words, I say thank you to Jacobs: athletics gives nothing to anyone. I'm a simple guy, I didn't expect it. Simple and fast: in January out of 60 he had a personal best of 6"72, now third in the blue all-time list (after Jacobs 6"41 and Tumi 6"51) and in the seasonal continental one (behind Prescod 6"49 and Hartmann 6" 53). While waiting for Jacobs, we enjoy Samuele, a hero not by chance in the shadow of the champion who is looking for himself.