TOKYO — The man in Lane 3 was a mystery to nearly everyone, including the world-class sprinters who had lined up next to him for one of the biggest races on one of the biggest stages in sports.
“I really didn’t know nothing about him,” Fred Kerley of the United States said.
“I thought my main competition was going to be the Americans,” Andre De Grasse of Canada said.
The man in Lane 3 was an El Paso-born Italian named Lamont Marcell Jacobs, and he won Olympic gold on Sunday in the men’s 100-meter dash.