1. Marcell Jacobs 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.
27 Facts About Marcell Jacobs
1. 2.
Marcell Jacobs 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.
3.
Marcell Jacobs's parents met when his father was a United States Army soldier serving at Caserma Ederle in Vicenza, Italy.
4.
Marcell Jacobs's father was 18 and his mother was 16 at the time.
5.
Marcell Jacobs's parents married and relocated to Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas.
6.
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.
7.
Marcell Jacobs started out playing basketball and football, where his football coach, Adriano Bertazzi, took notice of his speed and suggested that Jacobs try sprinting.
8.
Marcell Jacobs preferred sprinting until he discovered the long jump in 2011.
9.
Marcell Jacobs has another son, born from a previous relationship when Marcell Jacobs was nineteen.
10.
Marcell 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.
11.
Marcell Jacobs said that reconciling with his father gave him the motivation and peace of mind he needed to focus on winning in the Olympics.
12.
In 2016, Marcell Jacobs won the Italian Athletics Championships in long jump.
13.
Marcell Jacobs did not participate in the 2016 Summer Olympics due to a hamstring injury.
14.
In 2019, Marcell Jacobs decided to focus his efforts exclusively on sprinting, citing frequent injuries while long jumping among the reasons for this switch.
15.
In July 2019, Marcell Jacobs lowered his 100 metres personal best to 10.03 seconds, making him the third-fastest Italian in history.
16.
On 6 March 2021, Marcell Jacobs won the 60 metres European title at the 2021 European Athletics Indoor Championships held in Torun, Poland, setting a new national record and worldwide season-best with a time of 6.47 seconds.
17.
On 13 May 2021, in Savona, Italy, Marcell 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.
18.
Marcell Jacobs won his first 100 metres heat at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in 9.94 seconds, improving his own Italian record by 0.01.
19.
Marcell Jacobs is the first Italian to ever reach an Olympic 100 m final.
20.
Marcell 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.
21.
Marcell Jacobs's 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.
22.
Marcell Jacobs was not favored to win the race, with bookmakers giving him a three percent chance of winning.
23.
Marcell Jacobs ran the team's second leg, contributing to its total run time of 37.50 seconds, setting a new Italian record.
24.
Marcell Jacobs ended his season shortly after the Olympics, citing fatigue, and cancelling two upcoming Diamond League appearances.
25.
Marcell Jacobs returned to competition in February 2022, winning the 60 m race at the ISTAF Indoor in Berlin with a time of 6.51.
26.
Marcell 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.
27.
Marcell Jacobs 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.