He lifted again in the final to take the most coveted title of all with a second European record of 9.80. But he improved that mark to 9.94 to win his heat on Saturday, then set a European record of 9.84 in the semifinals to scrape into the final as one of two non-automatic qualifiers.
The Italian had never broken 10 seconds before May this year, when he set a national record of 9.95. Through all the mayhem Jacobs just got better and better. World leader Trayvon Bromell looked awful in his heat and never recovered, his US teammate Ronnie Baker ran a tight semifinal to undermine his chances and European champion Zharnel Hughes was disqualified for a false start in the final. One by one, the leading contenders faltered. However, almost the entire 100m field seemed gripped by nerves from the heats, perhaps mindful of the huge opportunity to claim the crown that Bolt had vacated. His ambition went only as far as reaching the final. Lamont Marcell Jacobs arrived at the Tokyo Olympic Games in career best form but in nobody’s list of the top contenders to succeed Usain Bolt as the Olympic 100m champion, not even his own. In the minutes before the world’s fastest men took to the track for their showdown on Sunday (1), Venezuela’s Yulimar Rojas had destroyed the 26-year-old triple jump world record with her last leap of the competition and brothers in flight Mutaz Barshim and Gianmarco Tamberi had tied for the high jump gold medal and agreed to share it, having supported each other as they recovered from the same career-threatening injury after the Rio Olympic Games.īut it was another Italian who pulled off the greatest upset of all.
Be warned, if you don’t like (at times) intensely crowded places, you may not enjoy the public days at TGS.Even before the men’s 100m final, traditionally the most anticipated event of the Olympic Games, this was a thrilling night of athletics. Usually the closing day is most popular, but people tend to rearrange their plans due to the frequent typhoons that buffet the Japan archipelago in September. There is also a dedicated area for families with small children.Ĭheapo Pro-tip: Pre-purchasing your ticket from a convenience store or online direct from the organisers will save you ¥ 200 and you don’t need to queue to purchase tickets at the gate (you still have to queue, just not for purchasing tickets). If you’re not into waiting in line at the booths for hours, there is plenty of other entertainment-including one of the biggest gathering of cos-players around. The queues at the entrance ease up around noon, so if you turn up before that, bring liquid refreshment and a hat as the weather in this part of Japan is still hot in September. If you want to play some of the new games, you’ll need to turn up early (the more fanatical mill around the station area all night and then queue up from 5am) and know exactly where you’re going when you get inside. The show is on a huge scale with booths from all the major game publishers, console makers and mobile gaming platforms with a few indies and international booths thrown in as well. While the first two days of the event are industry and press only, days three and four are open to the sweaty masses. The Tokyo Game Show remains one of the top gaming shows in the world.