Marcell Jacobs' passion for jewellery

"'A golden boy with an original style'. Guè Pequeno would write in one of his best-known lyrics of 2011 if he had to define Marcell Jacobs today. He is one of those athletes who don't go unnoticed, not only because of his physical strength and prestige but also because of his bracelets, necklaces and earrings, which accompany him in every race, characterising the style of the - by now - fastest man in the world. The matching necklace and bracelet are both made of gold, like the medal he has always aspired to, and, what a coincidence, studded with diamonds. 

As he himself told Corriere, he's a man who likes to stand out, and jewellery is something he holds dear, something he treats himself to after a victory, like the one he only parted with for the races, the Cartier Love Bracelet which he wears regularly in his daily life, one of the most desired pieces of jewellery in the world. Luckily for him, unlike many other sports, athletics is allowed to wear any kind of jewellery and many athletes have them. Probably worn for superstition more than anything else, because having something that for the nine or ten most important seconds of your career bounces off you is not at all the definition of comfort. Something that not even an eccentric and unconventional character like Usain Bolt has shown us over the years, always wearing a sober look on the track.

Marcell Jacobs is not the only one, many of his colleagues in the final yesterday were also wearing necklaces or accessories, such as Baker, the promising American centerman who was one of the favourites at the start. From one American to another, because one of the athletes who stands out most on the red track is certainly ShaCarri Richardson, not for her records or her recent actions but rather for the various accessories she is used to wearing. From necklaces to rings, the American athlete is one of the most flamboyant, but her style certainly does not limit or influence her performance. One person who was highly influential in this respect was Antonio Cassano, who was famous for blocking an entire Real Madrid training session, not just any team, for losing his historic earrings worth €50,000 each.

The fact is that yesterday another precious metal, the one that consecrates immortality and writes history, Marcell Jacobs managed to bring it home. For someone like him who has a passion for jewellery, the gold medal will have a completely different flavour, but surely the importance of this goal, which no Italian in history has ever achieved, will overshadow one of his greatest loves. No sprinter of either American or Jamaican nationality has won a gold medal since 1996. Marcell Jabocs has taken Italian speed into another dimension, with an original style on and off the track.