[5][6][7][8][9] His parents met when his father was a United States Army soldier serving at Caserma Ederle in Vicenza, Italy.

[9] When he was three weeks old, his father was transferred to South Korea, and Jacobs moved to Desenzano del Garda, in Lombardy, Italy, with his mother.

[21] In 2019, Jacobs decided to focus his efforts exclusively on sprinting, citing frequent injuries while long jumping among the reasons for this switch.

[22] On 26 June 2021, into a headwind of −1.0 m/s in Rovereto, he broke the Italian championship record with a time of 10.01 seconds, winning his fourth national title in a row.

[23][24] In the final, Jacobs won the gold medal with a time of 9.80 seconds, beating Fred Kerley (9.84) and Andre De Grasse (9.89).

[28][29] Jacobs later won a second gold medal in the 4×100 metres as part of the Italian relay team, along with Lorenzo Patta, Fausto Desalu and Filippo Tortu.

[34] Jacobs ended his season shortly after the Olympics, citing fatigue, and cancelling two upcoming Diamond League appearances.

In the final he edged Coleman by 3 thousands of a second setting a new European record of 6.41,[41] winning the gold medal and becoming the 4th fastest man in history on such distance.

Jacobs was supposed to start his outdoor season competing in the 100 metres at the 2022 Kip Keino Classic in Nairobi, Kenya, however he missed his debut after being hospitalised for a gastrointestinal infection.

[42] He officially opened his outdoor season with a time of 10.04, winning an international meet in Savona,[43] after changing his original plan of competing in the 200 metres.