August 01, (THEWILL) – There was heartbreak for Team Nigeria in the finals of the men’s 100m at the ongoing Summer Games as medal hopeful, Enoch Adegoke, who had impressed in the heat and semi-finals, did not finish the race and was therefore unable to compete to the end for medals.
Rather, history was made when Italian Lamont Marcell Jacobs ran a sensational time of 9.79s to become the first Italian to ever win the men’s 100m. He displayed a Usain Bolt-like bearing to claim the vacant sprint slot and be the sprint king of the Olympics to beat.
His time on 9.79s clearly put his blistering pace in stark relief and made it difficult for him to be matched. It is both a personal and European best for Jacobs and came moments after fellow Italian Gianmarco Tamberi won gold in the high jump event.
In second place for the 100m finals was American Fred Kerley followed by Canadian Andre De Grasse who both took to the podium for the Silver and Bronze medals respectively.
THEWILL recalls that since the Sydney Olympics of the year 2000 in Australia, this is the first time that there was no Bolt in the men’s field for the 100m. It left the chance for a successor to come forth and that gave athletes like Adegoke an opportunity to stake their claims to the throne.
It was not expected that the claimant was going to be the Italian but Jacobs took on one of the most open fields of an Olympics final 100m races in recent history and ran away with that quick time of 9.79s to win gold.
Drama had followed the races up to the final itself. The initial shocks before the final came with previous gold medal favourite Trayvon Bromell looking out of sorts and failing to qualify through the semifinals, beaten at the finish line by Adegoke. Then, in the final itself, Great Britain’s Zharnel Hughes was disqualified for a false start.
It brings another event in the track and field events to a close with the closest Nigeria has come to a medal but with nothing to show for it and still a no-show on the medals table. The window for medals is closing rapidly and there are fewer athletes everyday to pin that hope on.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
