(Sports news) The 100m Tokyo Olympic champion Marcell Jacobs ran his first professional race in 6 months at the Berlin World Athletics Indoor Tour Silver meeting. Jacobs took the first place in the men’s 60m track with a timing of 6.51 secs which is the fifth fastest of the season so far.
The Italian had run 6.47 secs last year which is his personal best, he ran 6.57 in the hearts and went even faster in the finals. Arthur Cisse had a better start in the heats and was leading the race just until the finish line as he was overtaken by Jacobs. In the final, the 27 year old had a fast start and had Arthur Cisse just behind him as he came closer towards the end of the race for a timing of 6.60 as he had the same timing in the heats. Jimmy Vicaut had a slow start as compared to the others but caught up in the final seconds of the race to finish third with a timing of 6.61 secs.
“Last year I started my season here and it was the beginning of an unforgettable year. So, it was good to start in Berlin again,” said Jacobs. “I had a very long time with no competitions after Tokyo but I really needed to recover mentally and physically. The indoor season will be very intense and will peak with the World Indoor Championships.”
Mondo Duplantis is crossing new limits in the men’s pole vault, as the current world record holder and Olympic champion took the gold with a comfortable lead. KC Lightfoot took the lead in the beginning with a successful first attempt at 5.92m which took Duplantis three attempts to clear but the record holder took the lead with a 6.03m which is the world leading this season and it was enough for the first place finish.
Lightfoot took the silver and Oleg Zernikel took the bronze after clearing 5.82m. Duplantis even went on to set the bar higher with a 6.19m which would have broken the world record and did come close to clearing it in two attempts.
“These attempts felt good and I realised that it is possible,” Duplantis said. “I am now at a point in my career where I make small improvements. The first week I changed my run-up, and the next week I am jumping a bit more aggressively. That way I can improve step by step. I know what to do and that I am in a position to jump higher.”
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