Marcell Jacobs, an Italian Olympic champion, won the 100-meter race at the Paavo Nurmi Games in Turku, Finland, and the World Athletics gold circuit on Tuesday. He clocked a time of 9.92 seconds, his best mark since 2021.
Jacobs achieved the minimum qualifying time for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games (10.00 seconds) and also broke his own record in the process. He improved his time from 9.99 seconds in the series to 9.92 seconds in the final, ahead of his compatriot Chituru Ali, who finished second with a time of 9.96 seconds. Andre de Grasse of Canada completed the podium with a time of 10.00 seconds.
This is the first time since 2022 that Jacobs, a 29-year-old Olympic and European champion, has run below 10.00 seconds. His last such performance was when he broke the continental record at the Tokyo Games with a time of 9.80 seconds.
In other events at the Paavo Nurmi Games, Adrian Ben of Spain finished fourth in the 800-meter race with a personal best time of 1:45.16, while Andreas Kramer of Sweden took the top spot with a time of 1:44.65.
In the 3,000-meter steeplechase, Abraham Seme of Ethiopia won with a time of 8:17.22, followed by Ibrahim Ezzaydouni and Víctor Ruiz of Spain in ninth and tenth place, respectively. Adel Mechaal of Spain finished tenth in the 1,500-meter race with a time of 3:37.80, trailing behind Cathal Doyle of Ireland by over three seconds.
