Italy’s Marcell Jacobs crowned men’s Olympic 100m champion

Lamont Marcell Jacobs of Italy won the men’s 100 meters gold at the Tokyo Olympics on Sunday 1^st August. Fred Kerley of the United States won the silver while Andre de Grasse of Canada took the bronze. Jacobs raced to Olympic glory in the men’s 100m becoming the fastest man in the world in the blue-riband event at Tokyo 2020. Italy’s Marcell Jacobs produced the performance of a lifetime to win the Tokyo 2020 men’s 100m final. The Italian was the surprise champion racing from lane three dipping at the line in a time of 9.80 seconds in a new national record at the Tokyo Olympic Stadium. 

He beat a quality field including the USA’s Fred Kerley and Canadian ace Andre de Grasse that picked up the silver and bronze medals. Kerley followed in second place in a time of 9.84 with De Grasse winning his second straight 100m bronze clocking 9.89. It is the first time since Athens 2004 that a new men’s 100m Olympic champion is crowned following the retirement of Jamaican legend Usain Bolt. He came into the race as the surprise package with no experience racing in finals in major championships. 

Jacobs flew under the radar coming into the final after earning his place on the start line in his maiden Olympic 100m final as one of two ‘fastest losers’ in the semis. The long jumper-turned sprinter finished third in his semi-final where he clocked a European record time of 9.84. Proving the time was no fluke, Jacobs chopped 0.4 off the time from the semis to claim Italy’s first Olympic medal in the men’s 100m and his country’s first in an athletics sprint event since Moscow 1980, when Pietro Mennea won the men’s 200m. 

Lamont Marcell Jacobs was born on 26 September 1994 in El Paso, Texas to an Italian mother and American father. His mother Viviana told Corriere Della Sera, “I

met Marcell’s father in Vicenza. He was a soldier in the US Army. I was 16 and he was 18. We got married and moved to Texas. 

“After about three years, Marcell was born. But 20 days later, his father was transferred to South Korea. It was impossible to follow him, so I decided to go back to Italy. Marcell wasn’t even a month old.” 

Jacobs has spoken about going to the United States to meet his father but admits his English is not very good. Young Marcell tried a number of sports before he eventually settled on athletics. His mother continued, “Coming from a family of motorcyclists, I always advised against that choice. For the rest he tried everything, from swimming to basketball: I wanted him to discover his passion. Plus I had to make him tired because he did not stand still even while he slept!”Jacobs recalled words of his school coach, “Since I wasn’t particularly skilled at football, but I was fast he told me: ‘Why don’t you try another sport like athletics?’The young Jacobs made his first impression in athletics at the national level in the long jump. 

At the 2016 Italian Championships, he took victory with a distance of 7.89m, with his personal best 7.95m although he also jumped 8.48m with a +2.8m/s following wind that year. But he made real strides on the track in 2018, claiming his first national 100m title and going close to the magic 10-second barrier. During the Covid lockdown of 2020, he trained at a house close to Lake Garda with a mini athletics arena including a 90m track and long jump pit. At the 2016 Italian Championships, he took victory with a distance of 7.89m, with his personal best 7.95m although he also jumped 8.48m with a +2.8m/s following wind that year. But he made real strides on the track in 2018, claiming his first national 100m title and going close to the magic 10-second barrier. During the Covid lockdown of 2020, he trained at a house close to Lake Garda with a mini athletics arena including a 90m track and long jump pit. Those sessions paid off as he made an impact right at the start of the 2021 season.

Author: Collins Brown

London, UK