On Marcell Jacobs’ right arm there is a tattoo of the Roman colosseum and a gladiator: a reminder of his fighting spirit and what Italy’s capital means to him. But in the swirling bearpit of a European championships 100m final, the former Olympic champion’s body dramatically broke down.
That was the first shock. The second was the sight of two Britons, Romell Glave and Jeremiah Azu, blasting through to take gold and silver.
True, their finishing times were nothing special. But tell that to the 16,000 crowd who cheered to the rafters as Glave took gold in a modest 10.09sec, with Azu following him home in 10.16.
Germany’s Owen Ansah claimed bronze 10.19. And Jacobs? Well, he looked a little saddened and weary as he hobbled over the line in 12.26.
“It doesn’t really matter about the time,” said Glave, who was wearing sunglasses and certainly left his rivals in the shade. “The condition wasn’t as great because of the headwind. But I wasn’t really focused on that. I was focused on my race. I was able to do that today and I’m king of the world.”
This was the third time that Britain has won gold and silver in the men’s 100m at the European championships, following Darren Campbell beating Dwain Chambers in 1998 and Zharnel Hughes finishing ahead of Reece Prescod in 2018.
Yet few would have put their money on it happening again when Jacobs, the twice European 100m champion who also won gold in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, looked so imperious when strolling through his semi-finals in 10.10.
But shortly after the gun went off in the final, everyone’s assumptions were suddenly shot to pieces as Azu set a searing pace, Glave followed – and the Italian’s injury-ridden body suddenly broke down.
“I was ahead, so I wasn’t really sure what happened until I saw the replay,” said Glave. “That’s when I realised that he pulled up.”
Afterwards, as he sported a crown on his head, he explained that he had moved from Jamaica to London at 15 in search of a better life. “I came over to live with my family,” he said. My dad was over here, and there’s more opportunity in Britain compared to Jamaica.
“There’s a more opportunity to join an athletics club,” he added. “And that resource that he gave me, I’m like a living testimony. Just standing here to show that I was born in Jamaica, but Britain is where I was made.”
Asked about wearing sunglasses late at night, Glave said he had decided to do it this year. “It’s a part of my style, it is a part of my personality and fashion identity. It’s a new thing for this year because this year means business.”
That business of sprinting hasn’t always been smooth though. Glave was the world’s fastest teenager in 2017, when he ran 10.21 as a 17-year-old.
But his back was in a brace for the whole of 2022. And he was unable to build on a European bronze medal in 2024 after what he says was a fracture in his back that became inflamed. But the 26-year-old has been working on his sprint mechanics with his coach Michael Afilaka – and this was his just reward.
Azu, meanwhile, was happy enough with silver after an up and down season. “Normally, I’m quite consistent,” he said. “This year, it’s been one race great, the next not up and down. But when it comes to championships, I know I find my best, and I show that today.”
There was at least an Italian success in the women’s 5,000m as Nadia Battocletti obliterated the field in the final 200m. “The race was super tactical, but then I played my winning card,” said Battocletti, who won a slowly run race in 15:37.84. Spain’s Marta García took silver, more than two seconds back, with another Italian Micol Majori winning bronze.
But there was disappointment for Britain’s Hannah Nuttall, who slipped to fifth after being in a prominent position at the bell.
In the women’s 100m hurdles final, Nadine Visser of the Netherlands took gold by one-thousandth of a second to defeat Poland’s Pia Skrzyszowska. Both women finished with a time of 12.67 but after a long time to assess the photo-finish, Visser was given the award. “I won the dip from Pia and that doesn’t happen very often,” she said.
Elsewhere the Olympic long jump champion Miltiadis Tentoglou of Greece won his fourth European title with a leap of 8.44m, while Simon Ehammer of Switzerland took silver after jumping 8.29m.