Italy’s Olympic 100m champion Marcell Jacobs moved smoothly into the final of the blue riband event at the European championships in Rome on Saturday.
Jacobs, who stunned the world when he scorched to 100m gold at the Covid-delayed Tokyo Olympics, clocked 10.06 seconds to win his semi-final ahead of Frenchman Pablo Mateo in 10.17sec.
The top two from each of the three semi-finals plus the next two fastest qualified for the final scheduled for 1953 GMT at the Stadio Olimpico.
Jacobs’ teammate Chituru Ali, won of the second heat in 10.11sec ahead of Germany’s Owen Ansah.
There was drama in the first of the three semi-finals as four of the sprinters failed to hear a second shot of the gun for a false start, instead running all the way through to the line.
When it was re-run, Briton Romell Glave won in 10.11sec ahead of Sweden’s Henrik Larsson.
The next two fastest across the three heats were Spain’s Guillem Crespi and German Robin Ganter.
