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On Marcell Jacobs’ right arm there is a tattoo of the Roman colosseum and a gladiator: a reminder of his fighting spirit and what Italy’s capital means to him. But in the swirling bearpit of a European 100m final, his body dramatically broke down.
That was the first shock. The second was the sight of two Britons, Romell Glave and Jeremiah Azu, coming through to take gold and silver.
True, the finishing times were nothing special. But try telling that to the 16,000 crowd who cheered to the rafters as Glave took gold in a modest 10.09 sec. Azu took silver in 10.16 ahead of Germany’s Owen Ansah, who claimed bronze 10.19.
And Jacobs? Well, he looked a little saddened and weary as he hobbled over the line in last in 12.26.
“We’ve been working on my start to the first 30 metres, and I was able to execute that today and to be European champion,” said Glave, who was wearing sunglasses and certainly left his rivals in the shade. “It’s amazing feeling, and to do it here on home soil as well in Birmingham, to be able to bring a one-two for British athletics.”
This was the third time that Britain has won gold and silver in the men’s 100m at the European champions, following Darren Campbell beating Dwain Chambers in 1998 and Zharnel Hughes finishing ahead of Reece Prescod in 2018.
“It wasn’t really pressure mentally,” added Glave, who celebrated by jogging around the track with a gold crown around his head. “I was ready for this occasion. It’s just physical. I have to fill in that gap because last week, I’ve been a bit up and down with my body. I was able to come out here regardless of how I was feeling, and also show up because the objective was to win.”
Glave was unable to build on a European bronze medal in 2024 after what he says was a fracture in his back that became inflamed. But the 26-year-old has been working on his sprint mechanics and the mental side of his sport with his coach Michael Afilaka – and this was his reward.
Jacobs had been bidding for his third consecutive European 100m title, putting him in an exclusive club alongside the great Soviet sprinter Valeriy Borzov and Britain’s Linford Christie. And after imperiously winning his semi-final, he looked a near certainty for gold.
But that was before his injury-ridden body broke down before halfway as he chased Azu, who had made a lightning start. Still, Azu was happy enough with silver.
“Normally, I’m quite consistent,” he said. “This year, it’s been one race great, the next not up and down. But when it comes to championships, I know I find my best, and I show that today. We always say times are irrelevant at this point. You want to go out there and race for medals.”
There was an Italian success in the women’s 5,000m as Nadia Battocletti obliterated the field in the final 200m. “The race was super tactical, but then I played my winning card,” said Battocletti, who won a slowly run race in 15:37.84. Spain’s Marta García took silver, more than two seconds back, with another Italian Micol Majori winning bronze.
But there was disappointment for Britain’s Hannah Nuttall, who slipped to fifth after being in a prominent position at the bell.
In the women’s 100m hurdles final, Nadine Visser of the Netherlands took gold by one-thousandth of a second to defeat Poland’s Pia Skrzyszowska. Both women finished with a time of 12.67 but after a long time to assess the photo-finish, Visser was given the award. “I won the dip from Pia and that doesn’t happen very often,” she said
