With less than a month and a half left until the start of the athletics program at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, Italy is warming up its engines and sending encouraging signs on multiple fronts after a fantastic home edition of the European Championships. Yesterday, at the meeting in Turku, Marcell Jacobs and Chituru Ali they made history by going under 10 seconds together in the 100 meters and making a big leap in the season’s world rankings.
In the past it had never happened that two Italian sprinters ran in less than 10″ in the same race, even if last June 8 the Jacobs-Ali tandem had already achieved another feat by taking a double in the European final in Rome at the Olympic Stadium. The 9.92 achieved in Finland projects Jacobs to fifth place in the 2024 global ranking, while Ali rises to 13th with his new personal best of 9.96.
The two Italian sprinters were able to make the most of the wind at their backs (+1.5 m/s), beating the Canadian champion Andre De Grasse (10.00) in a direct comparison. The fastest on the planet this year is still the Kenyan Ferdinand Omanyalawith the 9.79 obtained at altitude in Nairobi and in favorable weather conditions, ahead of the Jamaican Oblique Seville (9.82) and the American phenomenon Noah Lyles (9.85). Fourth position for the Cuban Shainer Reginfo Montoya with 9.90.
SEASONAL WORLD 100 METERS RANKING
1. Ferdinand Omanyala (Kenya) 9.79 (+1.5 m/s, at altitude)
2. Oblique Seville (Jamaica) 9.82 (+0.9 m/s)
3. Noah Lyles (USA) 9.85 (+0.9 m/s)
4. Shainer Reginfo Montoya (Cuba) 9.90 (zero wind)
5. Marcell Jacobs (Italy) 9.92 (+1.5 m/s)
6. Christian Miller (USA) 9.93 (+1.6 m/s)
6. Kendal Williams (USA) 9.93 (+2.0 m/s)
8. Brandon Hicklin (USA) 9.94 (+1.7 m/s)
8. Favor Oghene Tejiri Ashe (Nigeria) 9.94 (+1.4 m/s)
8. Akani Simbine (South Africa) 9.94 (+0.4 m/s)
11. Christian Coleman (USA) 9.95 (+1.2 m/s)
11. Louie Hinchliffe (Great Britain) 9.95 (+0.2 m/s)
13. Reynaldo Espinosa (Cuba) 9.96 (zero wind)
13. Chituru Ali (Italy) 9.96 (+1.5 m/s)
15. Jeremiah Azu (Great Britain) 9.97 (+1.4 m/s)
16. Ronnie Baker (USA) 9.98 (+0.9 m/s)
17. Godson Oke Oghenebrume (Nigeria) 9.99 (+0.6 m/s)
17. Abdul Hakim Sani Brown (Japan) 9.99 (+0.4 m/s)
19. Cejhae Greene (Antigua and Barbuda) 10.00 (+2.0 m/s)
19. Reece Prescod (Great Britain) 10.00 (+1.7 m/s)
19. Ackeem Blake (Jamaica) 10.00 (+0.6 m/s)
19. Andre De Grasse (Canada) 10.00 (+1.5 m/s)
