Lamont Marcell Jacobs won a stunning 100m Olympic gold to give Italy two athletics titles within a matter of minutes as a scorching day in Tokyo also brought records and a sit-in protest.
The blue riband sprint event had been wide open since the retirement of Jamaican great Usain Bolt, who had won it at the past three Games, and it was Jacobs who took his chance to win the sport’s biggest prize with a European record of 9.80 seconds.
He became the first Italian to win it and leaped straight into the arms of compatriot Gianmarco Tamberi, who was still wildly celebrating his shared gold in the high jump.
And Jacobs, who only switched from the long jump in 2018, streaked clear to win in 9.80 seconds, 0.04 clear of American Fred Kerley. Canada’s Andre de Grasse won a second successive Olympic bronze in third.
