Lamont Marcell Jacobs Jr. (born 26 September 1994) is an Italian track and field sprinter and former long jumper. He is the 2020 Olympic 100 metres champion, the 2022 60 metres world champion, the 2022 European 100 metres champion, and a member of the gold medal-winning relay team at the

2020 Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...

. 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.

Biography

Early life

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 Lombardy ( it, Lombardia, Lombard language, Lombard: ''Lombardia'' or ''Lumbardia' '') is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in the northern-central part of the country and has a population of about 10 ...

, Italy, with his mother. His parents split when he was six months old. He started out playing basketball and

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

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

Personal life

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 strictly identifies as being Italian. 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.

Career

Long jump

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

Sprinting

In 2019, Jacobs decided to focus his efforts exclusively on

sprinting Sprinting is running over a short distance at the top-most speed of the body in a limited period of time. It is used in many sports that incorporate running, typically as a way of quickly reaching a target or goal, or avoiding or catching an op ...

, citing frequent injuries while long jumping among the reasons for this switch. In July 2019, Jacobs lowered his 100 metres

personal best A personal record or personal best (abbreviated to PR or PB) is an individual's best performance in a given sporting discipline. It is most commonly found in athletic sports, such as track and field, other forms of running, swimming and weightlift ...

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 The 2021 European Athletics Indoor Championships was held from 4 to 7 March 2021 at the Arena Toruń in Toruń, Poland. This was the second time this event was held in Poland after the 1975 edition in Katowice. The four-day competition featured 1 ...

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 Savona (; lij, Sann-a ) is a seaport and ''comune'' in the west part of the northern Italy, Italian region of Liguria, capital of the Province of Savona, in the Riviera di Ponente on the Mediterranean Sea. Savona used to be one of the chie ...

, Italy, Jacobs set the Italian record in the

100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been conteste ...

with a time of 9.95 seconds, becoming the 150th person in history and the second Italian to break the

10-second barrier The 10-second barrier is the physical and psychological barrier of completing the 100 metres sprint in under ten seconds. The achievement is traditionally regarded as the hallmark of a world-class male sprinter. Its significance has become less i ...

. 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.

=2020 Olympics

Jacobs won his first 100 metres heat at the

2020 Tokyo Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...

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). 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 or Jamaican. Due to this performance, Jacobs is tied with

Steve Mullings Steve Mullings (born 28 November 1982) is a Jamaican former sprint athlete who specialized in the 100 and 200 metres events. In 2011 he was given a lifetime ban for doping. Career Mullings began his international athletics career with a bronz ...

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 Eseosa Fostine "Fausto" Desalu (born 19 February 1994) is an Italian sprinter who specialises in the 200 metres winning a silver medal in that event at the 2018 Mediterranean Games and a gold medal in the 4×100 m relay at the 2020 Summer Olympi ...

and

Filippo Tortu Filippo Tortu (born 15 June 1998) is an Italian sprinter with a personal best in the 100 meters of 9.99, the first Italian in history to break the 10 seconds barrier. He won the gold medal in 100 metres at the 2017 European U20 Championships a ...

. 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 The Diamond League is an annual series of elite track and field athletic competitions comprising fourteen of the best invitational athletics meetings. The series sits in the top tier of the World Athletics (formerly known as the IAAF) one-day mee ...

appearances. After the Games, it was reported that Giacomo Spazzini, who had worked as Jacobs' nutritionist, was involved in a steroid investigation in Italy. In response, Jacobs' agent stated that the athlete had cut ties with Spazzini several months before the Olympics.

=2021/2022 indoor season

= Jacobs returned to competition in February 2022, winning the 60 m race at the ISTAF Indoor in Berlin with a time of 6.51. In subsequent races, which included winning the national 60 m indoor title, he lowered his season best to 6.49, arriving at the world indoor championships in

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

with the 5th fastest time in the season. In his semi-final he equalled the world leading time of 6.45, held by pre-championship favorite and world record holder Christian Coleman and Bahamian sprinter Terrence Jones, setting a new national record. In the final he edged Coleman by 3 thousands of a second setting a new European record of 6.41, winning the gold medal and becoming the 4th fastest man in history on such distance.

=2022 outdoor season

= Jacobs was supposed to start his outdoor season competing in the 100 metres at the 2022 Kip Keino Classic in Nairobi, Kenya, however he missed his debut after being hospitalised for a gastrointestinal infection. He officially opened his outdoor season with a time of 10.04, winning an international meet in

, after changing his original plan of competing in the 200 metres. Having sustained a slight injury to his biceps femoris, he took the decision to withdraw from three

meets which were on his calendar. Having had to withdraw before the semi-finals of the 2022 World Championships due to a thigh injury, at the

2022 European Championships The 2022 European Championships were the second edition of the European Championships. It was a multi-sport event which took place in Munich, Germany from 11 to 21 August 2022. The tournament began three days after the conclusion of the 2022 Commo ...

in Munich, Jacobs won the 100m final in a time of 9.95 seconds, beating reigning champion Zharnel Hughes into the second position (9.99s), with

Jeremiah Azu Jeremiah Azu (born 15 May 2001) is a Welsh sprinter. Career He competed in the 2022 British Athletics Championships where he won the 100 metres in a wind-assisted time of 9.90 seconds. He has won multiple championships in the junior athletics ...

completing the podium with a time of 10.13.

Statistics

European records

: 9.80 (+0.1 m/s; Tokyo, 1 August 2021). Current holder * 60 metres: 6.41 (

, 19 March 2022). Current holder

National records

* relay: 37.50 ( Tokyo, 6 August 2021), he ran second leg in the team with Lorenzo Patta,

Progression

;100 m

International competition

Other meetings

National competitions

: * Denotes senior level national champion.

National titles

Jacobs won nine national championships at individual

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

level. * Italian Athletics Championships **100 m: 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 (5) **Long jump: 2016 (1) * Italian Athletics Indoor Championships **60 m: 2021,

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

(2) **Long jump: 2017 (1)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jacobs, Marcell 1994 births Living people Italian male long jumpers Italian male sprinters Citizens of Italy through descent Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes of Italy Athletics competitors of Fiamme Oro Italian people of African-American descent American people of Italian descent Sportspeople from El Paso, Texas Sportspeople from Brescia World Athletics Championships athletes for Italy Italian Athletics Championships winners European Athletics Indoor Championships winners Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Italy Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Olympic male sprinters World Athletics Indoor Championships winners European Athletics Championships winners 21st-century Italian people