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 and 2024 European 100 metres champion, and a member of the gold medal-winning 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 qualify for or win the men's 100 metres Olympic final.
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, 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. 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.
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 said 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, 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, after Filippo Tortu, 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.
2020 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 100 m 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 nor Jamaican. 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.
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. In 2022, the investigators established that Spazzini himself was a victim of collaboration with a person who turned out to be a fake doctor: the biologist Antonio Armiento who negotiated a sentence of 1 year and 11 months and 20 days for falsely declaring he was a doctor and free prescription of antihistamines and diuretics.
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 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 Savona, 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 Diamond League 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 in Munich, Jacobs won the 100 m final in a time of 9.95 seconds, beating reigning champion Zharnel Hughes into the second position (9.99s), with Jeremiah Azu completing the podium with a time of 10.13.
Statistics European records 100 metres: 9.80 (+0.1 m/s; Tokyo, 1 August 2021). Current holder 60 metres: 6.41 ( Belgrade, 19 March 2022). Current holder
National records relay: 37.50 ( Tokyo, 6 August 2021), he ran second leg in the team with Lorenzo Patta, Fausto Desalu, Filippo Tortu. - Current holder
Progression 100 m Year PerformanceVenueDate2011 11.19 Chiari 20 May2012 10.68 Campi Bisenzio 19 May2013 11.19 Chiasso 19 August2014 10.53 Gavardo 18 May2016 10.23 Savona 25 May2017 10.82 Trieste 30 June2018 10.08 Savona 23 May2019 10.03 Padua 16 July2020 10.10 Trieste 1 August2021 9.80 Tokyo 1 August2022 9.95 Munich 16 August2023 10.05 Budapest 20 August2024 9.85 Saint-Denis 4 August2025 10.16 Tokyo 14 September2026 9.96 Paris 28 June
International competition Year Competition Venue Position EventPerformanceNotes2016Mediterranean U23 Championships Tunis1st Long jump 7.95 m European Championships Amsterdam 11th Long jump 7.59 m 2017European Indoor Championships Belgrade Long jump 7.70 m 2018European Championships Berlin 11th () 100 m 10.282019European Indoor Championships Glasgow Long jump NMIAAF World Relays Yokohama Final relay DNFWorld Championships Doha 19th () 100 m 10.20 10th () relay 38.11 2021 European Indoor Championships Toruń1st 60 m 6.47 , World Relays Chorzów1st 4 × 100 m relay 39.21 Olympic Games Tokyo1st 100 m 9.80 1st 4 × 100 m relay 37.50 , 2022World Indoor Championships Belgrade1st60 m6.41 , World Championships EugeneN/A ()100 m10.04 European Championships Munich1st100 m9.95 , 2023 European Indoor Championships Istanbul2nd 60 m 6.50World Championships Budapest 12th () 100 m 10.05 2nd 4 × 100 m relay 37.62 in the semifinals.2024 World Relays Nassau Final 4 × 100 m relay DQ 38.14 in the heat.European Championships Rome1st 100 m 10.02 1st 4 × 100 m relay 37.82 Olympic Games Paris 5th 100 m 9.85
Other meetings Year Competition Venue Position Event Performance Notes2021BAUHAUS-galan Stockholm2nd 100 m 10.05Herculis Montecarlo3rd 100 m 9.992022ISTAF Indoor Berlin1st 60 m 6.51ORLEN Cup Łódź1st 60 m 6.49 2023ORLEN Cup Łódź1st 60 m 6.57 Liévin International Meeting Liévin2nd 60 m 6.57 Hanžeković Memorial Zagreb3rd 100 m 10.082024East Coast Relays Jacksonville2nd 100 m 10.11Golden Spike Ostrava3rd 100 m 10.19
National competitions Year Competition Venue Position EventPerformanceNotes2016 U23 Italian Athletics Championships Brixen1st Long jump 8.48 m , Italian Athletics Championships Rieti1st Long jump 8.07 m *2017Italian Athletics Indoor Championships Rieti1st Long jump 8.06 m * 2018Italian Athletics Championships Pescara1st 100 m 10.24 * 2019Italian Athletics Championships Brixen1st 100 m 10.10 *2020International Triveneto meeting Trieste1st 100 m 10.10Italian Athletics Championships Brixen1st 100 m 10.10 *2021Italian Athletics Indoor Championships Ancona1st 60 m 6.55 *International Savona meeting Savona1st 100 m 9.95 Italian Athletics Championships Rovereto1st 100 m 10.01 CR*2022Italian Athletics Indoor Championships Ancona1st 60 m 6.55 *Italian Athletics Championships Rieti1st 100 m 10.12 * 2023Italian Athletics Indoor Championships Ancona2nd 60 m 6.55 * 2024Roma Sprintfestival Rome1st 100 m 10.07 * Denotes senior level national champion.
National titles Jacobs won ten national championships at individual senior level. Italian Athletics Championships 100 m: 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2026 (6) Long jump: 2016 (1) Italian Athletics Indoor Championships 60 m: 2021, 2022 (2) Long jump: 2017 (1)
Track records As of 24 September 2024, Jacobs holds the following track records for 100 metres. LocationTimeWindspeedm/sDateNotes Munich 9.95 +0.1 16/08/2022 Tokyo 9.80 +0.1 01/08/2021 Track record is shared withCarl Lewis (USA) from 24/08/1991. Turku 9.92 +1.5 18/06/2024
See also List of European records in athletics List of Italian records in athletics Italian all-time lists - 100 m Italian all-time lists - relay Italian podiums in the Diamond League 2018 in 100 metres (45th with 10.08) 2019 in 100 metres (33rd with 10.03) 2020 in 100 metres (22nd with 10.10) Italian national track relay team
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