ROME — With less than 50 days until the Paris Olympics, defending 100-meter champion Marcel Jacobs has yet to run a sub-10-second time in nearly two years.
Jacobs defended his European title on Saturday, clocking a season-best 10.02 seconds to win at his home track. The Texas-born Italian looked smoother in the semi-final, clocking 10.05 seconds, despite finishing comfortably.
After the final, Jacobs was suffering from a tremor in his left leg, which may have been due to a physical problem.
Jacobs dominated Italy's first and second places, with Chitul Ali taking silver in a personal best time of 10.05 seconds and Romel Grave of Great Britain taking bronze in 10.06 seconds.
The last time Jacobs broke the 10-second barrier was in August 2022 at the last European Championships in Munich, when he won in 9.95 seconds.
Jacobs recorded a time of 9.80 seconds at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago, becoming the second Olympic champion after Usain Bolt.
Jakob Ingebritsen, the Norwegian world champion whose father was recently accused of abusing one of his other children, surged into a lead in the final 100 meters to win the 5,000 meters in 13 minutes, 20.11 seconds.
From left, Chitul Ali of Italy, Lamont Marcel Jacobs of Italy, Henrik Larsson of Sweden, Romel Grabe of Great Britain and Owen Unser of Germany cross the finish line in the men's 100 meters final at the European Athletics Championships in Rome, Saturday, June 8, 2024. Credit: AP/Andrew Medichini
This was Ingebritsen's fifth European Championship win from 1500m to 5000m, as well as an Olympic gold medal in the 1500m.
Greek long jumper Miltiadis Tentoglou signalled his intention to defend his Olympic title by breaking his own championship record with successive leaps of 8.65 metres in his final two attempts.
It is Tentgruh's third consecutive European title, having also won the world title last year.
Italy's 19-year-old Mattia Furlani won silver with 8.38 points, setting a new under-20 world record, while Switzerland's Simon Ehammer took bronze with 8.31 points.
Norway's Jacob Ingebrigtsen gestures after winning gold in the men's 5,000 meters final at the European Athletics Championships in Rome, Saturday, June 8, 2024. Photo by AP/Alessandra Tarantino
The long jump took place on a raised platform at the front of one side of the Stadio Olimpico stands.
France's Silena Samba Maiella set a championship record in the 100m hurdles in 12.31 seconds, setting a new world record this season – a positive sign for the host nation heading into Paris.
Another Italian standout, Leonardo Fabbri, won the shot put in front of a home crowd in a championship record time of 22.45.
Perseus Carlstrom won his first major gold medal in the 20-kilometer race walk after winning two silver and three bronze medals at world and European championships. The Swede celebrated his victory by doing push-ups on the blue track.
On the inside of his walking hat, Carlstron writes the name of the event in which he won a medal, which then becomes his gold entry mark.
“My goal is to make this season my own,” Carlstrom said.
