Marcell Jacobs

Jacobs is the first Italian to win the gold medal in the event, and the first European to win since Linford Christie won the event at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona.

His effort broke the European record he set in the semi-final earlier that day, recording the fastest time ever run by an athlete that is neither American nor Jamaican.

Lamont Marcell Jacobs Jr. (born 26 September 1994) is an Italian track and field sprinter and former long jumper.

Due to this performance, Jacobs is tied with Steve Mullings as the 10th fastest man of all time.

Jacobs was not favored to win the race, with bookmakers giving him a three percent chance of winning.

Jacobs later won a second gold medal in the 4×100 metres as part of the Italian relay team, along with Lorenzo Patta, Fausto Desalu and Filippo Tortu.

It was the first time Italy had ever won this event, and also the first time Italy had earned a medal in the event in 73 years.

Jacobs ran the team's second leg (split time: 8.925), contributing to its total run time of 37.50 seconds, setting a new Italian record.

Due to his outstanding achievements, Jacobs was selected by the Italian Olympic Committee to be Italy's flag bearer during the Olympics closing ceremony.

Jacobs ended his season shortly after the Olympics, citing fatigue, and cancelling two upcoming Diamond League appearances.

He preferred sprinting until he discovered the long jump in 2011.

Jacobs lives in Rome with his wife, Nicole Daza, and their two children.

Jacobs has another son, born from a previous relationship when Jacobs was nineteen.

Although Jacobs was born in the United States, he identifies as being Italian.

In 2016, Jacobs won the Italian Athletics Championships in long jump.

At the 2016 Italian U23 Championships, he jumped 8.48 meters, the best performance ever for an Italian, although this result was not recognized as a national record due to a 2.8 m/s tailwind, which was 0.8 m/s above the allowable maximum for any record performance.

Jacobs did not participate in the 2016 Summer Olympics due to a hamstring injury.

With a personal best of 8.07 meters, he ranked tenth on the IAAF (now World Athletics) world-leading list at the end of the 2017 indoor season.

In 2019, Jacobs decided to focus his efforts exclusively on sprinting, citing frequent injuries while long jumping among the reasons for this switch.

In July 2019, Jacobs lowered his 100 metres personal best to 10.03 seconds, making him the third-fastest Italian in history.

On 6 March 2021, Jacobs won the 60 metres European title at the 2021 European Athletics Indoor Championships held in Toruń, Poland, setting a new national record and worldwide season-best with a time of 6.47 seconds.

On 13 May 2021, in Savona, Italy, Jacobs set the Italian record in the 100 metres with a time of 9.95 seconds, becoming the 150th person in history and the second Italian to break the 10-second barrier.

On 26 June 2021, into a headwind of −1.0 m/s in Rovereto, he broke the Italian championship record with a time of 10.01 seconds, winning his fourth national title in a row.

He is the 2020 Olympic 100 metres champion, the 2022 60 metres world champion, the 2022 European 100 metres champion, the winner of the 100m in the 2020 olympics and a member of the gold medal-winning 4 × 100 m relay team at the 2020 Olympics.

He currently holds the 100 metres European record, the 60 metres European record, and is the first Italian to ever qualify for and win the men's 100 metres Olympic final.

Jacobs is the son of Viviana Masini, an Italian woman, and Lamont Marcell Jacobs Sr., an African American serviceman.

His parents met when his father was a United States Army soldier serving at Caserma Ederle in Vicenza, Italy.

His father was 18 and his mother was 16 at the time.

His parents married and relocated to Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas.

Three years later, Jacobs was born.

When he was three weeks old, his father was transferred to South Korea, and Jacobs moved to Desenzano del Garda, in Lombardy, Italy, with his mother.

His parents split when he was six months old.

He started out playing basketball and football, where his football coach, Adriano Bertazzi, took notice of his speed and suggested that Jacobs try sprinting.

When Jacobs was ten, he began competing in athletics.

Jacobs had been estranged from his father since he was an infant; however, in 2020, he reestablished a relationship with him at the suggestion of his mental coach.

He cited that reconciling with his father gave him the motivation and peace of mind he needed to focus on winning in the Olympics.

Jacobs won his first 100 metres heat at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in 9.94 seconds, improving his own Italian record by 0.01.

In the semi-final, he was third with a time of 9.84 seconds, setting a new European record and qualifying for the final with the third overall fastest time.

He is the first Italian to ever reach an Olympic 100m final.

In the final, Jacobs won the gold medal with a time of 9.80 seconds, beating Fred Kerley (9.84) and Andre De Grasse (9.89).