Olympic 100m champion Lamont Marcell Jacobs, who won a shock gold medal at Tokyo 2020, has vehemently denied ever taking performance-enhancing drugs.
The Italian maintains his breakout success is down to “extreme hard work”, having only broken the 10-second barrier in May 2021, six weeks before running 9.80, the 11th fastest 100m of all time, at the Games in Tokyo.
Scepticism surrounded the 27-year-old’s shock victory, particularly after he shut down his season immediately after clinching a golden double with Italy’s victory in the men’s 4x100m relay.
But the former long jumper has categorically denied ever taking performance-enhancing drugs, adding that the accusations of wrongdoing have been “hurtful”.
“Absolutely not, and I would not,” Jacobs told The Daily Telegraph when asked if he had ever taken performance-enhancing drugs. “People think they can say whatever they want about you without understanding that sometimes what they say can be hurtful.
“The negative pieces hurt me a bit because what they did was put doubt over my victories. My victories represent extreme hard work. Hard work that nobody saw, hard work that was blood, sweat, tears and injuries.”
Jacobs also clarified that the abrupt ending to his season was due to the “exhausting” nature of the Olympics, adding that he “needed to regenerate my mind and body.”
But doubts also surfaced when Jacobs’ one-time nutritional adviser, Giacomo Spazzini, was embroiled in a police investigation known as “Operation Muscle Bound” concerning the illegal distribution of anabolic steroids.
But despite removing himself from the situation and cutting Spazzini out of his lift in March last year, Jacobs maintains there have been many “wrong” accusations, including “a lot of mud slung about him as a person and a professional”.
Jacobs will make his return to the track at the Meeting Hauts-de-France Pas-de-Calais in the 60m.
It’s the event in which Jacobs achieved his first victory of 2021, winning in 6.54, a personal best at the time.
An improved world-leading 60m of 6.47 would follow a month later to claim the European indoor title in Poland.
And after his meteoric rise last summer, all eyes will be on Jacobs again on 17 February with the prospect of a big indoor season ahead of the European and World Championships this summer.
