Rarely has an Olympic Games 100 metres champion been so belittled or so maligned as Italy's Marcell Jacobs.
It is fair to say the Texas-born Italian stunned the field to snatch gold in the Covid-delayed Tokyo Games, in a European record of 9.80sec.
He made it double gold just days later by helping Italy to victory in the 4x100m relay, again a result that left pundits shocked and opened up a Pandora's box of questions.
A former long jumper, Jacobs had vastly improved his 100m times that season under then-coach Paolo Camossi. Before 2020, Jacobs had never gone below the 10-second barrier and his sole title of note was European indoor 60m gold.
But after his stunning success in Tokyo, Jacobs went off the radar, pulling out of the high-profile Eugene, Brussels and Zurich Diamond League meets, citing fatigue and a knee problem.
What a moment. | Men's 100m final #Tokyo2020 #OnThisDay @ItaliaTeam_it | @TeamUSA | @TeamCanada | @crazylongjumper | @De6rasse | @WorldAthletics pic.twitter.com/GSarZwBIFX
— The Olympic Games (@Olympics) August 1, 2023
His conspicuous absence raised eyebrows. Being the men's Olympic 100m champion carries a kudos, attracting meet organisers and sponsors alike and to go AWOL didn't chime well with traditionalists.
"I'm not even bothered by the gratuitous malice about doping," the 29-year-old said in September 2021 of insinuations that his success was partly fuelled by performance-enhancing drugs.
Jacobs may have temporarily disappeared off the track scene, but he bounced back in style, claiming the world indoor 60m crown and a first European 100m gold in 2022.
A series of injuries ensued that saw him withdraw from the semi-finals of the 2022 world outdoor championships in Eugene with a thigh injury while he didn't qualify for the final at last year's worlds in Budapest.
"People's criticism really hit me hard," he told the Guardian newspaper. "It came from everywhere – from Italy and abroad. As if I wasn't competing because I was afraid.
"I've never been afraid of anything in my life. I wasn't competing because I wasn't able to. It was a difficult time because you train to get results and not getting them was hard. The two post-Olympic years were difficult years.
"I think there was a lot of shock and discomfort with an Italian winning 100m gold."
Jacobs showed his resolve by upending his life, both professionally and personally, changing coach in Olympic year and moving, with his family, to the United States to work under Rana Reider.
It has seemingly paid off as Jacobs claimed a second European title on his home track in Rome in June.
"I had three goals: health, defending the European title and then the Olympic one," Jacobs said after that victory.
Jacobs dipped under 10 seconds for the first time this season in Turku last month, clocking 9.92sec to take the 100m win at the Paavo Nurmen Games, having timed 9.99sec in the heats. His final winning time was his fastest in competition since his Tokyo gold.
"I was a bit worried that I hadn't run under 10 seconds yet (this season), but it's part of the game and now I have done it twice," said Jacobs.
Back on track
The Italian now seems on the right trajectory heading into the Paris Olympics.
🗣️"I know this season is like 2021"
Marcell Jacobs is holding true to his word and slowly but surely getting back into that Olympic form.
9.92 is his 3rd fastest time ever, only bettered by his semi and final races at the Tokyo Olympics. https://t.co/3gfMqyEHWr pic.twitter.com/RKQd0pstue
"He's definitely one of the top guys I really like," US track and field legend Carl Lewis told AFP of Jacobs.
The question now is whether Jacobs, born in Texas to a US military father and Italian mother and raised solely by his mother in Rome from an early age, can spring a second surprise by taking back-to-back Olympic golds.
"Winning a second gold wouldn't make that much of a change to me and my image," Jacobs insisted.
"Of course it would be positive, but coming from a country where no one before me had won an Olympic gold medal in the 100m, what I did was historic and it will always be historic.
"Over the years I've learned that I have to focus on what I want and what I believe I can do. Not to show others, but to show myself. A lot of things have happened in the two and a half years since I won gold, so I need to show myself what I can do."
AFP