Olympic champion against world champion, Lamont Marcell Jacobs against Fred Kerley: Even before the World Championships in Budapest (19th to 27th August) there will be at least two spectacular sprint showdowns between the two fastest men in the world.
Jacobs and Kerley will face off at the Diamond League meeting in Rabat on May 28, organizers announced on Wednesday. Five days later, this special meeting will take place again in Florence, as was announced on Tuesday.
Kerley (USA) and Jacobs (Italy) have been feuding over social media for a few weeks. Kerley had repeatedly asked Jacobs for a duel and accused the Italian of not trusting himself. “If it happens, I’ll be there. Will he show up? I don’t know,” said the 28-year-old, who won 100m gold in Eugene in 2022, most recently.
Experts did not expect that a meeting director could afford to sign Kerley and Jacobs. “Talk to my agent, if you don’t have at least six figures, then we won’t talk,” Kerley insisted. Now there are two exchanges of blows.
Kerley and Jacobs have not faced each other since the final of the Tokyo 2021 Olympic Games, when Jacobs narrowly won and surprisingly won gold. The 28-year-old recently countered Kerley coolly via Instagram. “Whenever you want, wherever you want, but remember it ended that way when it mattered more,” Jacobs wrote, posting a picture of the finish of the 100m final in Tokyo – Jacobs in front of Kerley im Goal. At the World Championships in Eugene, Jacobs did not appear in the semi-finals due to injury.