No Jamaicans. Two almost anonymous Americans. Competitors from China, South Africa, Nigeria, Great Britain, and — for the first time in Olympic history — Italy. These Olympic 100-meter finals wrote a whole new story in sprinting.
No Trayvon Bromell, the fastest man in the world this year. No Jamaicans. Two almost anonymous Americans. Competitors from China, South Africa, Nigeria, Great Britain, and — for the first time in Olympic history — Italy. Forget about turning the page to a new era of men’s 100-meter sprinting. These Olympic finals wrote an incredible new story, with an unexpected crop of athletes dashing into the void left from 13 years of Usain Bolt dominating the event, the sport of track and field, and the world’s imagination. When the final race was run Sunday night in Toyko, it was the Italian, Lamont Marcell Jacobs, who won gold in 9.80 seconds. No Italian man had ever made the Olympic 100-meter final before. Fred Kerley of the United States, who until recently was a 400-meter runner, took silver in 9.84. Andre De Grasse of Canada won bronze in 9.89. All three medalists ran personal bests in the final. « I really didn’t know anything about him, » Kerley said after Jacobs held him off down the stretch. « He did a fantastic job. » De Grasse seemed to have trouble remembering the name of the man who beat him: « 9.80 from the Italian guy, I didn’t expect that, » he said. « I thought my main competition would have been the Americans, but definitely he came to play. He executed. He did his thing so congrats to him. » The biracial « Italian guy » was born in El Paso, Texas, to an American father, and moved to Italy as a baby with his Italian mother. He switched from the long jump after a series of injuries, and the first time he ever ran under 10 seconds was this season. But he peaked at the perfect time, running 9.
