It was my dream as a child: I ran as hard as I could. Now I can’t wait to hear Mameli’s hymn tomorrow ». Thus, to the microphones of RaiSport, Marcell Jacobs gold medal in the 100 meters of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Mom: “Marcell’s life was a great sacrifice”
“Marcell’s life was a great sacrifice. He lived without a father and I was his dad and mom. He has overcome many difficulties and now he deserves everything ». These are the first words of the mother of Marcell Jacobs, Olympic champion in the hundred meters. “I had good feelings after spending a month with him and his brothers in Tenerife. From that
During this period his plans changed and he reached today’s victory », added mother Viviana who followed the race with other relatives and friends from the hotel she owned on the Brescia side of Lake Garda. “I said he was the new Bolt. He proved it, he is the fastest ».
Who is Marcell Jacobs
Marcell Jacobs was born in El Paso (USA) on September 26, 1994. The son of an Italian mother and a Texan father (a soldier he met in Vicenza). And the father was sent to South Korea a few days after his birth and the mother decided not to follow him, moving to Desenzano del Garda when the son was not even a month old.
he began to familiarize himself with athletics at the age of 10 starting first with the sprint and then, starting from 2011, with the long jump.
In 2013 he achieved the best Italian junior performance in indoor long jump with 7.75 m, beating Roberto Veglia’s old size by one centimeter, conquered in 1976.
In 2015 he smashed his personal best indoor with a jump of 8.03 m during the qualifiers of the Italian indoor championships, recording the fourth best Italian performance in indoor long jump, on par with Fabrizio Donato (2011). He wins the Italian title promised in the long run with the measure of 7.84 m and dreams of participating in the Rio 2016 Olympics, but his aspiration is blocked by an injury to his left quadriceps femoris that blocks him for almost a year
Aspire to go to the 2016 Olympics, however it has to stop for almost a year (2015) due to an injury to the left quadriceps femoris; for this reason, he plans to focus more on speed.
In the meantime, after coming out of the injury tunnel, in 2016 in Bressanone he jumps with an 8.48 m to the promised Italian championships. It is the best performance ever for an Italian, but the brilliant result is not approved as an Italian record by virtue of the favorable wind higher than that required by the regulation.
At the Italian junior and promising indoor championships (Ancona), in February 2017, he still improves his indoor limit with 8.07 m.
From here, Jacobs’ journey begins with speed and in 2018 at the corporate championships of Campi Bisenzio in Tuscany he reaches the fifth best Italian time ever, running the 100 meters in 10 “12.
Also in 2018 at the meeting in Savona he improved his time by running in 10 “08. The results improved again in 2019 when on July 16, during the City of Padua meeting, he improved his personal best by running 100 meters in 10” 03. It is the third best time ever for an Italian and Jacobs is behind Tortu (9 “99) and Mennea (10” 01). At the World Championships in Doha in September of the same year he runs in 10 “07 in heats.
A few months ago, on March 6, he won the gold medal in the 60 flat meters at the Indoor European Championships in Toruń in Poland with a time of 6 “47, a new Italian record and best seasonal world performance.
The record of 100 meters at the meeting in Savona
On May 13 last he runs to the meeting in Savona, setting the new Italian record of 100 meters in heats with a time of 9 “95 (+1.5 m / s). He thus becomes the second Italian, after Filippo Tortu, to break the 10-second barrier.
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