Following his much-awaited return to track sprinting, 100M Olympic champion Lamont Marcell Jacobs sadly withdrew from the main event of the Absa Kip Keino Classic.

Lamont through his coach stated that he simply couldn’t continue due to a stomach upset.

The Italian sprinting sensation who made waves after winning gold at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics was due to go toe to toe with American speedster Fred Kerley and Africa’s fastest man – Ferdinand Omanyala.

“The Olympic champion made the decision this morning with his staff, due to intestinal problems which occurred yesterday (Friday 6 May 2022) in Kenya,” wrote the Italian federation on its website a few hours before the start of the Kip Keino Classic Continental Tour meeting.

“Marcell will not report to the starting-blocks today because he remains under observation in the emergency room of Uhai Neema Hospital, under the control of the Italian Non Governmental Organization World Friends,” said his coach Paolo Camossi; quoted by the federation.

Six weeks prior to today’s Continental Tour meeting, Jacobs stormed to victory to take the world indoor 60M gold medal in Belgrade, chasing down the American world 100M champion Christian Coleman in the final.

Jacobs is scheduled to compete in a 200m race at the meeting in Savona, Italy, on May 18 2022, followed by a five-star 100M on May 28 at the Diamond League meeting in Eugene, Oregon, where the World Championships will take place in July 2022.