Athletics
Five things to know about shock 100m Olympic champion Marcell Jacobs
Born in Texas to an Italian mother, Jacobs has succeeded Usain Bolt as the ‘World’s Fastest Man’.
When successors to Usain Bolt as Olympic 100m champion were being assessed, very few would have considered Italy’s Marcell Jacobs.
But he upset the odds to scorch to victory in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Stadium, winning in a new European record of 9.80.
Five minutes earlier, his Italian team-mate Gianmarco Tamberi shared high jump gold with Mutaz Essa Barshim.
And then in the most prestigious event of them all, Jacobs beat a star-studded field to end 25 years of dominance by sprinters from the Americas.
Jacobs is the first European to win the Olympic 100m title since Britain’s Linford Christie at Barcelona 1992, and Italy’s first Olympic sprint champion since Pietro Mennea took the 200m at Moscow 1980.
Read on to find out five facts about the man who can now proudly carry the tag of ‘World’s Fastest Man’.
Born in the USA, but definitely Italian
Lamont Marcell Jacobs was born on 26 September 1994 in El Paso, Texas to an Italian mother and American father.
His mother Viviana told Corriere Della Sera, “I met Marcell’s father in Vicenza. He was a soldier in the US Army. I was 16 and he was 18. We got married and moved to Texas.
“After about three years, Marcell was born. But 20 days later, his father was transferred to South Korea. It was impossible to follow him, so I decided to go back to Italy. Marcell wasn’t even a month old.”
Jacobs has spoken about going to the United States to meet his father, but admits his English is not very good.
Young Marcell tried a number of sports before he eventually settled on athletics.
His mother continued, “Coming from a family of motorcyclists, I always advised against that choice. For the rest he tried everything, from swimming to basketball: I wanted him to discover his passion. Plus I had to make him tired, because he did not stand still even while he slept!”
Jacobs recalled to Corriere della Sera the words of his school coach, “Since I wasn’t particularly skilled at football, but I was fast he told me: ‘Why don’t you try another sport like athletics?’”
A sprinter and long jumper
The young Jacobs made his first impression in athletics at national level in the long jump.
At the 2016 Italian Championships, he took victory with a distance of 7.89m, with his personal best 7.95m although he also jumped 8.48m with a +2.8m/s following wind that year.
But he made real strides on the track in 2018, claiming his first national 100m title and going close to the magic 10-second barrier.
During the Covid lockdown of 2020, he trained at a house close to Lake Garda with a mini-athletics arena including a 90m track and long jump pit.
Those sessions paid off as he made an impact right at the start of the 2021 season.
Jacobs announces himself at European Indoors
Jacobs was far from a household name at the start of 2021, but he soon put a change to that.
At March’s European Indoor Championships in Torun, Poland, he produced a power-packed display to take men’s 60m gold in 6.47, the fastest time in the world this year and a new Italian record.
And in his first outdoor meeting of the year in Savona, he set a new Italian 100m record of 9.95 seconds.
After that, he told Corriere della Sera, “I am going to Tokyo to win a medal. Bolt is not there, Coleman is not there, there’s not a clear favourite, it’ll be a battle. I can’t stop dreaming now…”
What do Jacobs’ tattoos mean?
Scaling 1.88m and weighing over 80kg, Jacobs is one of the bigger sprinters of the circuit.
But perhaps more striking at the number of tattoos the Italian has, which are clearly visible around his race vest.
He calls the tattoos a representation of his “America” side, with one reading, “Famiglia. Dove nasce la vita e l’amore non ha mai fine,” which translates as “Family. Where life is born and love never ends.”
On his chest he has a rose and, in Italian, the famous Charlie Chaplin quote “What is really good is to fight with determination, embrace life and live it with passion! Lose your battles with class and dare to win because the world belongs to those who dare.”
Also on his body are the names of his children and his partner Meghan on his right bicep.
On his back is a tiger representing “strength, passion and beauty” and on his arm is a cross with the word ‘Believe’.
Just below his neck he has the words ‘CrazyLongJumper’ which is also his nickname on Social Media.
Jacobs looked up to Carl Lewis and Andrew Howe
Breaking the Italian record was Jacobs’ first objective of 2021, but the second was to fulfil a long-held ambition of competing at the Olympic Games.
He told Corriere Della Sera, “From the first time I stepped on the track aged nine, I dreamt of the Olympics. On my bedroom wall I had the newspaper page of the famous Carl Lewis commercial with him wearing stiletto heels in the starting blocks.
“But my idol as a child was Andrew Howe who, like me is mixed race and half-American. I could identify with him.”
Howe, born in Los Angeles, won the European jump title for Italy in 2006 and took world silver the following year.
BY DAPO SOTUMINU
Nigeria’s Francis James and Blessing Shambaz yesterday emerged winners of the 2nd Lotus Bank Abeokuta 10km Race to go home with the winners prize money of $1,000 in a race that was officially flagged off by the First vice president of the Nigeria Olympic Committee, Chief Solomon Ogba, and supported by Mr. Nadin Khan, the president of the World Ultra Running.
James won the men’s race finishing at 30minutes 11seconds to beat all opponents to consolidate on his victory in Abuja when he finished second best in the half marathon held in the Federal Capital Territory middle of the year.
James also emerged the Nigeria’s winner of the World class half marathon.
It will be recalled that James at his last major race in Abuja finished second place in a national half marathon race. He stressed that he used that race to prepare for the Lotus Bank Abeokuta Race and he was very happy winning the race.
He stressed that, the victory at Lotus Bank Abeokuta 10m Race has given him the confidence to do better in others races coming up in Nigeria and its an indication, that he’s very close to making history for Nigeria in subsequent marathon races. He added that, Nigerian runners will pull surprise in the others races not minding the attendance of the East Africans.
In second place for the men’s race is Gyang Raymond at a time of 30 minutes 14 seconds. Gyang got $750 for his effort. While the third place winner is Gyang David Boyi at 30 minutes 54 seconds. Boyi got a cash prize of $500.
In the women 10km race, the runners up that placed second was Daylop Patience at a time of 36minutes 98.28seconds to keep her position in last year’s edition. She got $750.
Third place winner is Agofure Charity at 37minutes 88 seconds.She got $500.
The overall 10km also saw the race by special athletes.
The route of the Lotus Bank Abeokuta Race wore a very active look this morning with the active presence of Febbs table water, a part sponsor of the event.
The volunteers on each points on the route all had Febbs Water on their hands ready to hand them over the runners. The organisers decorated all the runners that crossed the finish line with gold medals, this added to the fanfare and celebrations at the Alake Palace finish line of the race.
The Diamond League will increase its prize money to more than $9 million in 2025, the highest in the history of the series, the organisers have said.
Athletes will make a total of $18 million, with top athletes also receiving promotional fees. Male and female athletes will be paid at the same rate, the Diamond League said in a statement.
“The new total is almost a third higher than the sum paid during the pandemic-affected period of 2021-2024,” the statement said, adding that more will be invested in the athletes’ travel, transport, accommodation, medical and physio services.
Each of the 14 Diamond League meets of the 2025 regular season, scheduled to kick off in April, will award a total prize money of $500,000, with the final in August offering $2.24 million.
“The total prize money per discipline will be between $30,000 and $50,000 at the series meetings and between $60,000 and $100,000 at the final,” the statement added.
The Diamond League’s 2024 season concluded in Brussels last week, with Zurich set to host the 2025 final.
The news comes after World Athletics ended a 128-year tradition by paying Olympic champions at the Paris Games $50,000 each and as rival track events try to muscle in on the circuit long seen as the standard-bearer for professional athletics.
Retired American sprinting great Michael Johnson’s Grand Slam Track will offer prize money ranging from $100,000 for the winner to $10,000 for the eighth-place finisher at each of four “slams” when the league launches next year.
It will distribute a total of $12.6 million in prize money in 2025.
“In a league of our own,” Grand Slam Track wrote in a post on X, opens new tab on Wednesday, with a breakdown of their prize money.
-Reuters
A record 6,000 runners, local and international from across the African continent and Nigeria have registered for the second edition of the Lotus Bank Abeokuta 10km Run slated for September 28, 2024, as the organisers, Nilayo Sports Management Limited guns for a bronze label status for the race.
The Chief Operating Officer of Nilayo Sports Management Limited, Ebidowie Oweifie, noted that the theme of this year’s edition of the Abeokuta 10km Race titled ‘For Greatness’ out is out to commemorate the birthday anniversary of the Egba paramount ruler, the Alake of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Aremu Gbadebo 111, the 10km Run will flag off at Iyana Oloke at 6am and finish at The Alake Palace, Abeokuta.
Kenya’s Peter Nwaniki is the men’s race defending champion at a time of 28 minutes 14 seconds, while Shamila Kipsirir also of Kenya is the women’s defending champion.
Nigeria’s race men’s defending champion is Francis James at 31minutes 08seconds, while the women’s defending champion is Patience Daylop at 36 minutes 31 seconds.
The second edition of Abeokuta10km Race will be sponsored by Lotus Bank, FEBBS Premium Water, Fatgbems Petroleum Limited and Cash Token.
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