Jacobs was a three-time fencing Blue from 1960–62, and was on the winning team each time. In 1960, he became the first post-war undergraduate to win the UK’s oldest épée competition, the Miller-Hallett Cup. He also won the Universities Athletic Union épée title in 1961.[6]
Having missed out on a medal by a single hit at the 1961 Summer Universiade in Sofia, Jacobs won the épée title two years later at the 1963 event in Porto Alegre, Brazil.[6] In between the two Universiades he was a three times British fencing champion winning the épée title at the British Fencing Championships in 1962, 1964 and 1970.[3][7]
In total, Jacobs won five British Empire/Commonwealth Games medals - a bronze medal in men's épée and a gold medal in team épée at the 1962 Commonwealth Games in Perth, Western Australia,[8] team gold at the 1966 Commonwealth Games in Kingston, Jamaica and again at the 1970 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh, where he also won an individual bronze medal.[9][6]
Jacobs won one world championship medal, a team épée silver at the 1965 World Fencing Championships in Paris.[6]
Jacobs competed in individual and team épée at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, topping his pool in the first round with a 6–1 win–loss record. Four years later he again represented Great Britain in team épée at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City.[1]
He went to a third Games in Montreal in 1976 as the Great Britain fencing captain. He was captain of the British épée team from 1971–76 and was the overall team manager from 1973–76.[6]
Jacobs wrote the foreword to the book entitled Fencing: Techniques of Foil, Epee and Sabre by Brian Pitman (1988).[10] He served on the Executive Committee of the Fédération Internationale d'Escrime (FIE) for 24 years, 12 as secretary-treasurer, and stepped down in 2013 and was elected to the Legal Commission.[11] He was an A-graded FIE épée referee and worked on the Directoire Technique (DT) at multiple FIE world championships and Olympic Games.[6]
He was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2019 New Year Honours for services to British and International Fencing.[12]
