A sensational run of 9.80s from Lamont Marcell Jacobs has crowned him the new 100m sprint king, becoming the first Italian to ever win the event and the unlikely of successors to Usain Bolt as the sprint king of the Olympics.
Fred Kerley took Silver in 9.84s for the United States with Canada’s Andre De Grasse getting Bronze with 9.89s.
In one of the most open 100m races in history in which the pre-tournament favourite, Trayvon Brommel and the joint second-fastest man in history Yohan Blake couldn’t make the final, it was Jacobs who emerged from the shadows to shock the sporting world.
With Britain’s Zhanel Hughes false-starting at the first attempt, there was a bit of trepidation amongst the rest of the field. Jacobs, however, held his nerve and got off to a great start from lane 3, and once he got out of his drive phase, he began to take command of the race.
At 70m, the former long-jumper was already pulling away from the field, and with about 10m to go, there was no stopping him as he ran all the way to a new Europen Record and Personal Best.
Heartbreak for South African sprinter and African Record Holder, Akani Simbine, as he missed out on a medal with a 9.93s run to finish 4th. Nigeria’s only representative in the final, Enoch Adegoke came up injured about 50m into the race after he became the first Nigerian in 25 years to reach an Olympic men’s 100m final.
Immediately he crossed the line, he was welcomed with a huge embrace by fellow Italian Gianmarco Tamberi, who had won GOLD in the men’s High Jump, a feat he shared with Qatari high jumper Mutaz Essa Barshim.
