Olympic 100m champion Jacobs Marcell from Italy will compete in men’s 100m at the Absa Kip Keino Classic scheduled for Saturday at the Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani.
Meet director Barnaba Korir said the record-breaking Olympic champion had signed for the event on Saturday night.
This will set up an interesting battle with African record holder Ferdinand Omanyala, Olympic 200m silver medalist Fred Kerley and Jacobs in the mix.
Born in Texas on September 26, 1994, to an Italian mother, Jacobs succeeded Usain Bolt as the ‘World’s Fastest Man’.
Few would have considered Italy’s Jacobs to succeed Bolt but the Italian upset the odds to scorch to victory in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Stadium, winning in a new European record of 9.80 seconds.
Jacobs, who is also a long jumper, was also a member of the Italian gold medal-winning 4×100 m relay team at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Jacobs, who is fresh from winning the World indoor 60m title, currently holds the 100 metres European record, the 60 metres European record, and is the first Italian to ever qualify for and win the men’s 100 metres Olympic final.
More so, Jacobs made history as the first 100m Olympic champion since 1996 to win gold without a recent top 200m mark.
Jacobs has not competed this year since winning the world indoor 60m title in a European record time of 6.41 seconds in Serbia on March 19, this year.
Korir, who was addressing a press conference accompanied by the meet organizer, Mike Rabar, declared the men’s 100m a full house, adding that the race will for the first time have nine lanes instead of eight.
Besides Omanyala, Jacobs and Kerley, Korir said, the men’s race has attracted Americans Mike Rogers, who won the gold medal in the 100m relay in Doha 2019 World Athletics Championships and Isiah Young.
Others in the race are South Africans Gift Leotlela, the 4x100m gold medallist from 2021 World Relay Championships and 2021 World Athletics Under-20 Championships 200m bronze medallist Sinesipho Dambile.
“We are proud to attract rich fields not only in 100m but also other events. That is why we want Kenyans to turn out in numbers to witness Kenya athletes take on some of the world’s finest,” said Korir.
Korir said the women’s 100m has two-time Olympic 100m champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce from Jamaican, Tokyo Olympic 200m silver medallist Christine Mboma of Namibia and American sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson among others.
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