Lamont Marcell Jacobs becomes third man in history to win Olympic and European 100m titles back-to-back

By Ben Morse, CNN

Updated 0909 GMT (1709 HKT) August 17, 2022

Lamont Marcell Jacobs celebrates after winning the men's 100m final at the 2022 European Championships.

(CNN)After a difficult year, 2022 has become golden for Lamont Marcell Jacobs — Jacobs finished first in the men's 100m at the 2022 European Athletic Championships on Tuesday in Munich's Olympiastadion.

The 27-year-old Italian finished with a time of 9.95 seconds, fractionally ahead of Team GB's Zharnel Hughes who finished in 9.99 seconds and Hughes' teammate, Jeremiah Azu, who finished in 10.13 seconds. In doing so, Jacobs became just the third man in history to win 100m Olympic gold and European gold back-to-back — after Valreiy Borzov of the Soviet Union and Great Britian's Linford Christie — having shocked the world at Tokyo 2020 when he stormed to victory. The win also caps off an injury-riddled season, in which he's had to pull out of competitions, having to deal with illness and muscle issues prior to Munich. And after such a frustrating season, the victory is all the more satisfying for Jacobs. Read More«I'm very happy with this result. It wasn't my best race from a technical point of view and the time is not what I wanted, but it mattered crossing the line first after an outdoor season so complicated and full of injuries,» Jacobs said after the race.«Coming here and showing that I am the best is something beautiful that motivates me to push even harder.»Before the season began, he had the aim of winning three medals. And with two out of three medals secured, having won the world indoor 60m title in Belgrade in March, Jacobs says the year as a whole can be considered a «good result.»«Being forced to withdraw from the semifinals at the World