ITALY'S Lamont Marcell Jacobs claimed a stunning victory to take the men’s 100m title in Tokyo.
The Texas-born sprinter clocked 9.80 seconds to finish ahead of the USA's Fred Kerley and Canada's Andre De Grasse in the Olympic final.
Jacobs became the first man to win the 100m other than Usain Bolt since Justin Gatlin in 2004.
"I don't know, it's a dream, a dream, it is fantastic. Maybe tomorrow I can imagine what they are saying, but today it is incredible," he said, after becoming the first European to win the Olympic 100m title since Linford Christie in 1992.
"It was my childhood dream to win an Olympic Games and obviously a dream can turn into something different, but to run this final and win it is a dream come true.
"I want to thank my family that has always supported me, my children and my mum, who has been my number one fan since I was a child, and my team, who have followed me, and those who support me.
"It is amazing, it is fantastic, it is a dream, Olympic champion in 100m, I have no words."
Kerley, who won 400m bronze at the World Championships two years ago, admitted he knew little about the new champion.
"I really didn't know anything about him. It was my first time racing him at the Monaco Diamond League [in July]. He did a fantastic job," he said.
"I executed the race perfectly and I came up with a silver medal. I can't complain. The race was a beautiful race. I got a personal best and a silver medal. I am blessed to be at the biggest stage of my career."
De Grasse, who won bronze, added: “9.80 from the Italian guy, I didn’t expect that.”
Lamont Marcell Jacobs, your new Olympic men's 100m champion! 🇮🇹🥇https://t.co/qHK4OxWeNR #tokyo2020 #bbcolympics pic.twitter.com/ycZIFmanA1
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) August 1, 2021
Team GB's Zharnel Hughes, the first Briton in a men's 100m final in 21 years, was disqualified for a massive false start and was forced to watch from the sidelines.
Yohan Blake missed out on the final and, with no Bolt, there were no Jamaicans in the last eight for the first time since Sydney 2000.
The 31-year-old, the joint second fastest man in the world, then insisted it would be his last Games.
"It's definitely my last Olympics. You know track is not easy. I won't be ungrateful. I've gained a lot," he said.
Hughes stormed to win his semi-final in 9.98s, the first time he had run sub-10 seconds this year.
After Daryll Neita reached the women's final on Saturday it was the first time in 37 years – the Los Angeles Games – Team GB had athletes reach both finals.
Reece Prescod was disqualified from the first semi-final for a false start while CJ Ujah finished fifth in 10.11s to bow out.
"To be honest it's just my fault, I'm not going to shy away from it, not going to blame anything, or make an excuse for it," said Prescod.
"I'm a professional athlete. I shouldn't have false started - I was amped up, I was really, really amped up.
"Mentally I think even I didn't realise there was a lot going on thinking on yesterday's race. It happens, but it's the Olympics but obviously now I've got to stay mentally strong, and focus on if I can bring my chance, my efforts to the relay - that's going to be fun."
Tom Gale came 11th in the high jump final, with the title shared by Qatar's Mutaz Barshim and Italy's Gianmarco Tamberi.
An appeal for Daniel Rowden was being considered following the 800m semi-final after claims he was impeded. The 23-year-old missed out on the final along with Elliot Giles.
Sisters Tiffany Porter and Cindy Sember missed out on the 100m hurdles final after coming fifth and seventh respectively in the semi-finals.
Venezuela's Yulimar Rojas won the triple jump and set a huge new world record of 15.67m.
Earlier, Abigail Irozuru qualified for Tuesday's long jump final after a season's best of 6.75m.
She is joined by Jazmin Sawyers, who finished in the top 12 after jumping 6.62m, although Lorraine Ugen failed to progress with a jump of 6.05m.
Lizzie Bird became the first British woman to reach the steeplechase final after finishing fifth.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel