Jacobs left smiling as media focus turns to British doping case

ROME (Reuters) – Italy’s double Olympic champion Lamont Marcell Jacobs said it made him smile to see the British media switch focus to a doping case in their own country, after previously raising suspicions that he could be a drug cheat. 

Britain’s 4x100m relay silver medallist Chijindu Ujah was provisionally suspended on Thursday for allegedly breaching anti-doping rules after he returned an Adverse Analytical Finding (AAF) from a test carried out during Tokyo 2020.

It came after Jacobs’ shock gold medal and European record time of 9.80 seconds in the 100 metres final, followed by his starring role in pipping Britain to 4x100m gold, led to UK media reports highlighting doping cases involving breakout stars in athletics. 

“It makes me smile, thinking of those people who spoke without thinking about what they were saying, who must now look to their own home instead,” Jacobs told Rai.

“I have worked so hard, I have made sacrifices and I did not want to lend weight to people who do not know what they are talking about.”

Reuters