Jacobs retires to the World Athletics Championships

From our correspondent Andrea Buongiovanni

@abuongi

July 17
– EUGENE (United States)

Maybe it was written in the stars: Olympic magic had a price to pay. Marcell Jacobs, in extremis, renounced the semifinal of the 100 world championships. Eugene, mecca of international athletics, did not do him well. The “his of him” of him United States, the country of his father and where he was born 27 years ago, have turned their backs on him. His lane, the fourth, in the last of the three series, remained sadly empty. After difficult, troubled weeks, spent in pursuit of a physical condition never found due to the many repeated ailments, here is the most painful decision.

The case

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The blue was affected by the fatigue of the battery, of that 10 ”04 course with little brilliance that still earned him the tenth time of the day and the promotion. Afterwards, the long nocturnal physiotherapy sessions with the faithful Alberto Marcellini were not enough to restore the engine of a car already under pressure for some time. The injury to the left hamstring, which over time has radiated to the buttock, has given no respite. On the contrary: the situation, after the solicitation of the sprint on Friday night, has worsened. In Eugene’s late morning there was a direct consultation between the federal representatives, which among others was attended by the technical director Antonio La Torre, the health manager Andrea Billi, the coach of Marcell, Paolo Camossi and the athlete himself. . The policeman from Brescia, as always implied, even in the hours after the battery, would have liked to run at all costs. “I’m here and I try hard,” said Marcell. The rest of the staff, of course, continued to preach caution. The outcome of an ultrasound to which the double Olympic champion underwent in extremis probably also intervened to define the situation. It is clear that at least one would like to save participation in the European Championships in Munich, scheduled from 15 to 21 August. At the World Cup, meanwhile, participation in the 4x100m also fades. And it is obvious that a relay race with or without Jacobs, with all the respect of those who will be called to replace him, does not have the same value.

Battery

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The analysis of the blue, after the battery, was also very lucid: “When I usually bring out the best (in the launch, ed) – he admitted -, the physical problem that has been with me for a while it allowed me to bring out my true race, to let myself go, to advance as I usually do. I felt like another me. Limited”. It is evident how the long period of work in fits and starts, which began with the cursed trip to Nairobi in early May and continued with the many renunciations of scheduled competitions, has destabilized him. The car was rusty, the engine flooded and unable to free all the horses. He was forced to travel with only one piston. Marcell’s action on drums was not as effective and elegant as it usually is. He lacked propulsion, lack of fluidity. There was dust between the gears.

Cold shower

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Until this forced renounced. Getting to the final would not have been easy given the situation. It would probably have served to run under ten seconds. Marcell hasn’t been able to do it since the Tokyo gold day, when he first flew in 9 ”84 and then in 9” 80, a double European record. Times aside, it would still have been necessary to place himself in the top two of his own match or, as happened to him at the Games, to hope for one of the two repechage halves. Against opponents of the caliber of the American Bracy, of the Botswano Tebogo, in the heats capable of the junior world record with 9 “94, of the Jamaican Seville, who preceded him last night with 9” 93 and of the Kenyan Omanyala, it would have been damned complicated. He couldn’t even try. And for all the tricolor movement, for the entire team involved in Oregon, it is a renunciation that hurts. It especially hurts Marcell and his staff. Recover quickly, champion.