Former Olympic 100m champion and world 4x100m silver medallist Marcell Jacobs is set to make a return to the 200m event after nearly seven years.
The Italian sprint sensation announced in a detailed Instagram post, that he will begin his 2025 outdoor season with a 200m training race in Miami this weekend.
Marcell Jacobs revealed that the 200m race in Miami will serve as a crucial training opportunity to gauge his progress after months of intense preparation.
“This Saturday I’ll be in Miami for a training race. I’ll be returning to running 200m after almost seven years, an opportunity to test new sensations and refine the work I’ve done over these months,” he said.
“It will also be the opportunity to run the 4×100 relay with my teammates from Jacksonville, a first step of a year that is predicted to be full of competitions. It’s going to be a fun time so hang with me!”
This will be his first 200m race since 2018, when he clocked a personal best of 20.61 seconds at the Campi Bisenzio Regional Championships in Italy.
Jacobs’ return to the 200m distance is a strategic move as he prepares to face the world’s best sprinters at the Diamond League meeting in Shanghai/Keqiao on May 3.
The 2024 season holds special significance for Jacobs, who struggled to replicate his Olympic glory in 2023.
Despite being the defending champion, he failed to make a significant impact in the men’s 100m at the Paris Olympic Games and ended his season with a fourth-place finish at the Galà dei Castelli.
The Miami event will be Jacobs’ stepping stone towards his ultimate goal of dominating the sprint scene in 2024.