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How did a long jump specialist from Italy become the world’s fastest man?


The fastest man in the world is Italian, for the very first time.

Lamont Marcell Jacobs shocked the world when he won the men’s 100 metres final last night, creating history by earning Italy its first ever gold medal in the event.

It’s the first time since 2004 that someone who isn’t Usain Bolt has won the title.

However, not many would have predicted that Jacobs would become the Jamaican champion’s successor.

Jacobs is the first men’s 100m champion not named Usain Bolt since Athens in 2004.(

Getty Images: Cameron Spencer

)

It’s been a peculiar journey for Jacobs, who was born in El Paso, Texas in 1994, to an Italian mother and an American father.

A man wearing a blue single at shorts
Lamont Marcell Jacobs has won a national title in the long jump.(

Getty Images: Sam Barnes

)

He moved to Europe with his mother when he was just one month old.

The talented athlete tried a number of sports before he eventually settled on athletics, but his success didn’t initially come on the running track.

The 26-year-old first made an impression at national level in the long jump.

When he was just 21, Jacobs won the national long jump title at the 2016 Italian championships with a distance of 7.89m.

Just two weeks before that, he jumped to a wind-assisted 8.48m at the Italian U23 championships.

However, despite his obvious talent in athletics, he wasn’t even in the conversation about who might take out the 100m final in Tokyo.

Bursting onto the scene in 2021

Jacobs didn’t start to make a name for himself on the track until 2018,  when he claimed his first national 100m title and went close to breaking the 10-second barrier.

Then, earlier this year, he took out the men’s 60m at the European Indoor Championships in Poland, in 6.47 seconds.

It was the fastest time in the world this year, and a new Italian record.

In his first outdoor event of the year he also set a new Italian record in the 100m, running a blistering time of 9.95 seconds.

Still, not many had tipped the Italian to take out the most prestigious event of them all at the Tokyo Olympics.

‘It was my childhood dream’

But in one of the best moments of the Games so far, Jacobs beat a star-studded field to end 25 years of dominance by sprinters from the Americas.

A false start from Great Britain’s Zharnel Hughes did little to put him off.

The Italian powered to a shock victory with a strong second half of the race, to win in a European record time of 9.80s.

Italian sprinter Lamont Marcell Jacobs squats next to a screen showing his time after the men's 100m final at Tokyo Olympics.
No Italian had won a medal in the men’s 100m until Lamont Jacobs streaked home on Sunday.(

AP: Petr David Josek

)

Fred Kerley of the United States, who until recently was a 400m specialist, claimed silver in 9.84s, while Canada’s Andre de Grasse was strong late on to take the bronze in 9.89s.

Jacobs is the first European to win the Olympic 100m title since Britain’s Linford Christie at Barcelona in 1992.

“It was my childhood dream to win an Olympic Games. Obviously a dream can turn into something different, but to run this final and win it is a dream come true,” Jacobs said after the race.

“I want to thank my family that has always supported me, my children and my mum, who has been my number 1 fan since I was a child, and my team who have followed me and those who support me.”

Italy's Gianmarco Tamberi (left) hugs countryman Lamont Marcell Jacobs after they won high jump and 100m gold.
High jump gold medallist Gianmarco Tamberi (left) was on hand to congratulate Lamont Marcell Jacobs (right) after he won the 100m final.(

AP: Matthias Schrader

)

In another memorable moment of the Tokyo Games, Jacobs was embraced by Italian high jumper Gianmarco Tamberi moments after he also won gold in his event.

Tamberi and Mutaz Barshim of Qatar both cleared the bar at 2.37m and agreed not to have a jump-off — instead opting to share gold.



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