Marcell Jacobs — 9.80 seconds

Marcell Jacobs delivered one of the most shocking upsets in Olympic history by winning the Tokyo 2020 100m gold in 9.80 seconds — the only Italian to ever claim an Olympic or world senior 100m title. His meteoric rise from a 10.20-second personal best in 2019 to Olympic champion in just two years represents the fastest sprint progression since Maurice Greene (#8 on this list) transformed from a 9.90 sprinter to world-record holder. Jacobs backed up his Olympic triumph with European Championship gold in 2022, proving his performance was no fluke. His 9.80-second time is 0.13 seconds faster than the average European championship-winning time of the last decade, and it outpaces #5 on this specific list by 0.03 seconds.