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Italy's Lamont Marcell Jacobs wins Olympics 100m in historic first: 'No one saw this coming'

The Italian male sprinter and long jumper won the 100 meters final in 9.80 seconds, becoming an unlikely successor to Usain Bolt as the sprint king of the Olympics

Lamont Marcell Jacobs of Italy won the men's 100 meters gold at the Tokyo Olympics on Sunday, August 1, local time. Fred Kerley of the United States won the silver while Andre de Grasse of Canada took the bronze. Jacobs became the first man to win the 100 meters other than Usain Bolt since Justin Gatlin in 2004.

The Italian male sprinter and long jumper won the 100 meters final in 9.80 seconds, becoming an unlikely successor to Usain Bolt as the sprint king of the Olympics. Kerley finished his dash in 9.84 seconds while De Grasse clocked 9.89 seconds. Great Britain's Zharnel Hughes was reportedly disqualified for a false start. Hughes revealed a cramp in his leg caused a twitch and his disqualification. Nigeria's Enoch Adegoke pulled up with an injury with about 30 meters to run.

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Reportedly, his time is both a personal and European best. Jacobs’ victory came moments after compatriot Gianmarco Tamberi won gold in the high jump in the Games. After the victory, Jacobs was embraced by Tamberi to celebrate the double triumph for Italy. Jacobs was born in El Paso, Texas but grew up on the shores of Lake Garda, and is a former Italian long jump champion.

The event, which was highly anticipated across the globe, did not include Trayvon Bromell of the United States, who had the fastest lifetime best among the semifinalists: 9.77 seconds, which he had run in June. But he finished third in the second of three semifinals on Sunday, missing out on an automatic spot in the final. The top four runners in the third semifinal were all faster than Bromell, knocking him out of the final.

Online, many congratulated Jacobs for his win. “First time an Italian has won gold in the event. Congrats Lamont Jacobs,” wrote a Twitter user. “Didn't see that one coming but awesome race nonetheless,” said another Twitter user. One Twitter user said, “The fastest man this year is an Italian! WOW! An intense 100m final with all of them achieving their PB times!”

Many online, of course, acknowledged that this was an unlikely outcome. “Lamont Marcel Jacobs of Italy is the shock winner of the Men's 100m,” said one Twitter user. Another person tweeted, “Italy's Lamont Marcel Jacobs has just won the men's 100m final! This is one of the reasons why we love sport - the unpredictability of unscripted live entertainment.” One person also tweeted, “Surprisingly it’s Italy, big congratulations!”

Sports journalist Chris Chavez tweeted, “A stunner. Italy’s Lamont Jacobs wins the Olympic 100 meter final in 9.80. No one saw this coming. His personal best was 10.03 coming into this year. First Italian man to win the 100 meters at the Olympics.”

ATwitter user said, "Unbelievable!!! The fastest man in the world is Italian! Congratulations Lamont Marcel Jacobs!!" Another person tweeted, "No one saw this coming Lamont Marcel Jacobs Olympic champion at the #TokyoOlympics #100m."