Marcell Jacobs and a return with an ending that may come as a surprise
The return together of Marcell Jacobs and Paolo Camossi was born out of a story that actually never really ended. After separating in September 2023 due to different motivations, technical ideas that no longer aligned, and the need for change after the two Olympic gold medals (100 and 4×100) in Tokyo 2020, the two found themselves away from the track. In January 2026, between texts and dinners in Tokyo, they talked mostly about life and not athletics. “Ninety percent of it was not sports,” Camossi told Tuttosport.
The coach of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic champion told of a different Marcell: “I found a super motivated Marcell, willing to make right and heavy choices to fulfill his dream.” Moreover, he said the long break was not just a fluke: “The good fortune is that this long break allowed Marcell to keep the fire he had inside.”
“Jacobs has matured, he knows what he really wants, he has goals in work, in life, and about the future.” His technical director added that the U.S. has given Jacobs so much: “Maybe America, despite the beautiful fifth place in Paris, has given him more from a human and personal point of view than from a work point of view.”
The Gorizian pointed out that Jacobs has already achieved some excellent goals in these first months of training with him: “Marcell is used to surprise. All the points on the schedule have been achieved ahead of schedule, and in fact, from a technical point of view, I am very happy. Small details remain to be refined, but you see the right work when you cross the finish line and look at the time. There’s always that 5 percent that can make a difference, though.”
Finally, when Paolo Camossi was asked if Macell Jacobs might return to long jump, he replied, “We joke about it, but at the end of his career, you never know.” Jacobs began long jumping in 2011 and in 2013 he raised the Italian junior indoor record to 7.75, which had been unbeaten since 1976 (now surpassed by Mattia Furlani with 8.34, an Under-20 world indoor record achieved in 2024). In 2015, he jumped 8.03 at Padova and in the same year came under Camossi’s guidance. In 2016 he jumped a windy 8.48 at Brixen, while in 2017 he did 8.07 indoors.
