Marcell Jacobs won another gold medal at the European Championships in Rome: with a time of 8″98 in the second half he was once again the driving force behind the 4x100m relay team which won (and convinced) the final on Wednesday evening in 37″82 (best European time of the year) ahead of Holland (silver medal in 38”46) and Belgium (38”52). It is the eleventh Italian gold medal in the XXVI edition of the continental athletics event, the 24th overall also counting 9 silvers and 4 bronzes: never so good, it is the all-time record.
Another gold in the 4×100 relay
After the rest in the semi-final – but when another Brescian, the Camuno Roberto Rigali, ran – Jacobs returns to the track as a starter for the second fraction, as mentioned “devoured” in 8″98. Thus the team that is worth the gold: in first Matteo Melluzzo (his time was 10″45), in second Jacobs, in third Lorenzo Patta (9″34), in fourth Filippo Tortu (9″05). So the final order of arrival: Italy, Holland, Belgium, Switzerland, Denmark, Greece, Poland. France was not there and withdrew less than two hours before the start. Nor even Great Britain, the reigning champions, sensationally eliminated in the semi-finals.
The last evening of the European Championships in Rome ends with many other Italian medals: silver for Italy in the men’s 4×400, which hadn’t happened since 1950; Larissa Iapichino’s silver in the long jump with the measurement of 6.94 meters achieved on the sixth (and final) jump); Pietro Arese’s bronze in the 1,500.
Appointment in Paris
Born in El Paso but raised in Desenzano del Garda, he will turn 30 in September, Marcell Jacobs is the pride of Italian athletics: “We entered the track very energized and full of energy, we gave 100 percent – he declared immediately after the race –. The movement has changed, everyone takes to the track not to participate but to achieve a great result. Italy is there, athletics is there: in Paris we will give you many joys.” The countdown in this sense has already begun: the Paris Olympic Games will begin on 26 July.
