How Italy got ahead in the sprints - Lamont Marcell Jacobs is an unlikely star to take over from Usain Bolt. But those who have been following his and Italy’s athletics progress weren’t surprised that they won Olympic gold
“The postponement of the Olympics was a great stroke of luck for us,” says Paolo Camossi, the coach of the new 100m king and European record holder Lamont Marcell Jacobs.
It started with a choice that proved successful. That is, switching from long jump to the 100m event. This choice should have been momentary, considering that Camossi is a former triple jumper who had never been a sprint coach. The 100m is a discipline in which there is no margin for error, unlike in the jumps where the athlete has more attempts at winning. Jacobs used to approach the 100m in three parts: start, acceleration and final sprint. “That’s why, never in any race, he finished without errors until 2021,” says Camossi. “When he started to see them as a single long acceleration, everything changed.”
Another turning point for Jacobs, possibly the most decisive, was relying on mental coach Nicoletta Romanazzi. He embarked on a mental growth path with her in September 2020, at the suggestion of his manager. When Jacobs arrived at the Olympic stadium, he greeted everyone. He was serene. “When the British Zharnel Hughes made the false start, Jacobs remained lucid and didn’t follow him,” says Camossi.
Di Mulo says their training programme looks further than just today’s result – it “looks to a more gradual maturation of the athlete and to avoid early specialisation”.
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