by Larry EderOkay, this is my deep thoughts about the Men’s 60 meters, which was epic! Great athletes duking it out. That is what sprinting is all about!
Oh so close! Marcell Jacobs takes the 60m, Christian Coleman in second and Marvin Bracy in third, photo by Getty Images for World Athletics
Christian Coleman, silver, Marcell Jacobs, gold, Marvin Bracy, bronze, photo by Getty Images for World Athletics
The Olympic champion defeats the World Indoor Champion: The Men’s 60 meters
Okay, just about anyone of the 8 billion-plus humans on this planet can appreciate the sprints. Kids run, jump and throw things, heck I even broke a few windows with errant rocks, softballs, and a baseball.
The 60-meter sprint is an indoor distance and also one that children do in PE classes, or use to do.
Christian Coleman is one of the few guys who has gone under 6.40 in the 60 meters, and in his first half dozen races back from 18 months suspension, Christian had won all of his races, and gone 6.49.
In Italy, Lamont Marcell Jacobs, aka @CrazyLongJumper in the Twittersphere, had won the Olympic 100 meters, anchored Italy to gold in the 4×100 meters, and inspired all of Italy with his Olympic medals. Marcell has an American father and an Italian mother. He has told media that he may have fast-twitch muscles that hail from the U.S., but he is Italian through and through. A private man, it seems clear that his love of his mother, and Italian family has allowed him to develop into the man he is today.
Marcell began as a long jumper but got injured. I first became aware of him watching 100m results in 2020, and then, watching him win the 60m title at the European Indoor Championships in March 2021.
In Tokyo, Lamont Marcell Jacobs was supreme. His continued improvement in the 100m each round, setting PBs in the heats and semi-finals, primed him for a spectacular run in the final, setting an Italian NR and taking the gold in 9.80.
And then it began.
Track geeks did what they always do. If only Coleman had been there, the finish would have been different. Lamont Marcell Jacobs was hailed as a hero in all of Europe, and, in the fans of Christian Coleman, just a lucky sprinter, who did not have the best of the best racing him. That is just, well, nonsense. In my mind, that it total B.S. First, one has to get to the final to compete, and Christian Coleman was serving a suspension for missing drug tests, and while he was quiet about it, the young American knew he just had to sit it out and focus.
In 2022, Christian Coleman opened at Millrose, with a nice win. Then, he ran at the US champs, going 6.55 and 6.45, taking the WL.
The showdown was going to be in Belgrade. In round 1, Marvin Bracy, a highly talented sprinter from the US, who has taken global medals before indoors, ran 6.46. Coleman ran 6.53 and Lamont Marcell Jacobs ran 6.50.
In the semi-finals, Marvin Bracy won semi 1, Christian Coleman won semi 2, and Lamont Marcell Jacobs won semi 3.
In the final, Marvin Bracy got out fast, with Christian Coleman and Marcell Jacobs in contention. As Coleman began to rise, and take control, he had Marcell Jacobs, with his huge, strong stride (which he had worked on this past year), and his strong second half, challenging Coleman and Bracy.
In sprint races, the differences are down to thousandths of a second. Fine training, focus, and amazing efforts are needed by these masters of speed. Coleman was not giving up, and neither was Marcell Jacobs.
Christian Coleman got out well, and so did Marvin Bracy. For Marcell Jacobs, his race truly begins at about 30 meters and he dominates from 30m to the finish.
This race was oh so close, like .003 close, and it took the officials some time to make a final decision. In the end, Marcell Jacobs, the Olympic gold medalist, had become the World Indoor Championship gold medalist. Christian Coleman did not defend his title from Birmingham, England in 2018. Christian took silver, and Marvin Brace took the bronze.
Why do I think that this is the best thing to happen to Christian Coleman and the sport in a couple of years? Because all that many Europeans will talk about in the next six months is Marcell Jacobs taking on Christian Coleman in the Men’s 100 meters in Eugene. And most Americans will want one of their sprinters, and Christian Coleman wears the USA vest, to take the gold back from the tough Italian sprinter. USA vs. Italy!
It will be epic!
The fastest man in the world in 2022 will battle the fastest man in the world from 2019! What a race!
And for 2022, Marcell Jacobs is the fastest man in the world, and he will be, depending on how he does in Eugene, Oregon next summer!
