Italy reigns supreme in the 100m to succeed Usain Bolt: Lamont Marcell Jacobs is the new king

TOKYO - Who will succeed Usain Bolt on the sprinting throne? Another Jamaican, an American, a Canadian? A Chinese? No, an Italian, Lamont Marcell Jacobs, born in El Paso, Texas, but who today unfurled the “azzurra” in Tokyo’s Olympic Stadium for an unprecedented postcard in the 100m final by nailing the clock in 9.80 seconds.

It was the end of a historic night for Italian sport, because only minutes before the “azzurri” had won gold in the high jump with Gianmarco Tamberi sharing the gold medal with Qatar’s Mutaz Barshim by jumping 2.37 meters. Jacobs, celebrating after crossing the finish line, met Tamberi for a hug that is destined for the front page of all Italian newspapers and websites.

Jacobs was born in the United States, yes, the son of an American father and an Italian mother, but at 18 months old he moved to Italy. The medal, of course, is very Italian. When asked about his origins he says he is “100 percent Italian” before adding, “And I don’t speak English well.”

A while earlier, the Venezuelan Yulimar Rojas had flown 15.67 in the triple jump to break a 26-year-old world record, that of Ukraine’s Inessa Kravets, with 15.50 in 1995, and win the first gold medal by a Venezuelan woman in the history of the Olympic Games.

But before all that shine and emotion, before Jacobs’ consecration at 26 years of age in an empty stadium due to the pandemic, there had been another story, the one that led to the final and an unexpected flag on the first step of the podium of the 100 meters.

First it was clear that the reign of the hectometer would not be left in the hands of Bolt’s “younger brother”, as Yohan Blake was seen for years. At 31, the compact Blake has more past than present and future. World champion in 2011 in Daegu with 9.92 and silver at the London 2012 Games with 9.75, second only to the invincible Bolt, Blake scored this Sunday 10.14. Nine years earlier, at the Lausanne meeting, he had clocked 9.69.

The same semifinals that left Blake out of the running were crueler for Treyvon Bromell. The 26-year-old American, who two months earlier had run 9.77, the best mark of the season, was left out of the final by the photofinish. His time had been a discreet 10 seconds flat, but Nigeria’s Enoch Adegoke took the ticket to the final. Bromell spent two minutes squatting on the track and holding his head while waiting for the verdict.

The explosion came in the third semifinal, which was the one that hid the new Olympic champion. China’s Su Bingtian was a force of nature with his 9.83, the same mark as American Ronnie Baker, whom he beat in the photofinish. Jacobs run 9.84.

The eight finalists were defined, Bolt’s succession would come in a stadium as huge as empty, in which the three Jamaican women who topped the podium of the 100 meters had to be satisfied with the applause of a score of journalists when they received the medals they won on Saturday.

Bolt was not in Tokyo this weekend, although the man who ran the fastest in history, 9.58, is keeping a close eye on the Games. This Sunday he tweeted a “this feeling!” (this feeling!) hours before the final, and on Saturday he uploaded to the networks a video in which he is seen dancing with friends in Jamaica before the podium copied by his compatriots: “It’s A Party here in Jamaica after the brilliant 123 of our girls”.

A day later, the party in Tokyo was Italian and without any Jamaican in the final. Silver for American Fred Kerley (9.84) and bronze for Canadian André de Grasse (90.89) completed the podium in a final that had a spectacular presentation in the Olympic Stadium, but fell victim to the silence and lack of spectators that are the mark of Tokyo 2020.

The 9.58 seconds that Bolt set in 2009 at the Berlin World Championships are still there, as an unbeatable mark. But today Bolt, gold medalist in Beijing, London and Rio, is in Jamaica, enjoying his family and friends. And in the hectometer an Italian reigns.