TOKYO – Within a couple of hours, he broke all records and brought Italy to the top of the world in the most beloved discipline of athletics.
Lamont Marcell Jacobs was the first Italian athlete able to qualify for an Olympic final in the 100 meters and at the same time the first Italian to win a medal in the specialty and the first Italian to win the gold medal.
Three milestones achieved at the Tokyo Olympic Games, where Jacobs also set a new European record in the discipline, first thanks to the 9 “84 in the semifinal, then with the 9” 80 in the final in which he surpassed himself. At the same time he also became the second Italian, after Filippo Tortu, to break the 10-second barrier.
In the final, Jacobs – class 1994, born in El Paso (Texas), Texan father and Italian mother – beat the American Kersey (9.84) and the Canadian De Grasse (9.89).
“It was my dream as a child: I raced as much as I could”, Jacobs told Rai Sport after the final. “I won an Olympic gold after Bolt, unbelievable, tonight looking at the ceiling maybe I’ll make it!”
But that of Marcell Jacobs was not the only Italian success: Gianmarco Tamberi, 29, from Civitanova Marche (Macerata), in fact won the gold medal in the high jump, ex aequo with the Qatari Mutaz Essa Barshim. They both jumped 2.37 on their first attempt, then after failing 2.39 they opted for a tie – they are also very good friends – to avoid the playoff. Bronze for the Belarusian Maksim Nedasekau.
The pics (Jacobs and Tamberi) are taken from Italia Team‘s Twitter profile
