Twice European 100m champion and Tokyo Olympic 100m champion Marcell Jacobs is set to skip the indoor season to focus on retaining his title at the Birmingham 2026 European Athletics Championships.
“I won’t do any indoors, but I’ll try to win a third European gold in a row in the 100m,” the Italian told La Gazzetta dello Sport, whilst admitting to some thoughts about walking away from the sport after a string of injuries have left him struggling for his best form in recent years.
Doubts over future
“I had many doubts about my future, I didn’t train for three months,” he said. “But this break has been useful: I didn’t rush, I listened to my head and body and after long reflection, together with my family, I decided to keep going.
“We might spend the summer season in Desenzano, my Italian city, where I founded an Academy and a Sports Centre. Once again: no rush, though. I need to be physically at 100%. Last year’s injury limited me a lot.
“Then I worked on strength, but I neglected the elasticity of my action: from 70 metres onwards, I was somehow just pulling my legs up. I lost fluidity and now I need to rebuild, but staying long without competing would be counterproductive. And in the long term my focus is on Los Angeles 2028."
The three-peat is on
Since his breakout year in 2021 that saw him shock the world and take Olympic gold, Jacobs has suffered a string of injuries. Yet he still managed to win back-to-back European 100m titles at Munich 2022 and Roma 2024.
However, last year, his season’s best put him 30th on the European rankings over 100m, so the Italian has chosen to prioritise training towards retaining his title.
Jacobs is currently back in Jacksonville, Florida, where he bases himself for training. His 2025 season saw him run a season’s best of 10.16, and sixth in his semifinal at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo.
Due to multiple challenges with injuries, he only raced five times during the outdoor season, including a relay. The men’s 100m will take place on the second day of the championships, 11 August, with all three rounds on the same day but across two sessions.
Jacobs is tied with Britain’s Zharnel Hughes for the championship record of 9.95, and with the Brit also expected to compete in Birmingham, it could be an intense battle.
If Jacobs can win in Birmingham, it will put him alongside Ukrainian Valeriy Borzov (Athens 1969, Helsinki 1971, Rome 1974 and Great Britain’s Linford Christie (Stuttgart 1986, Split 1990, Helsinki 1994) as the only athletes to win three consecutive men’s 100m titles at the European Athletics Championships.