Italy's Mattia Furlani at the World Athletics U20 Championships Cali 22 (© Oscar Munoz Badilla)
“This is a taste for the future,” says Mattia Furlani, the 17-year-old Italian summing up so much of what the World Athletics Championships Cali 22 is about – for him and 1500 other rising stars.
At an event that’s all about unearthing future champions, few are shaping with as much promise as Furlani, who last month won double gold at the European U18 Championships in Jerusalem, Israel, taking the high jump and long jump, soaring an astonishing 8.04m in the latter.
That makes him a big contender for gold in the world U20 men’s long jump final in Cali on Tuesday (2), where he takes on reigning champion Erwan Konate of France, Cuba’s Alejandro A. Parada and USA’s Johnny Brackins, who have all jumped 7.95m or better this year.
It’s a major step up for Furlani, but he’s certainly not stressing.
“I know this is not my age group,” he says. “But I will try to give as much as I can – the best of myself. I will absolutely not be influenced or affected by the result, whether positive or negative. My main objective this year, I’ve already achieved.”
Italian long jumper Mattia Furlani at the European U18 Championships in Jerusalem (© Getty Images)
Few outside of Italy knew about Furlani until this year, though there were major signs of his talent breaking out in 2021, when he high jumped 2.17m at the age of 16.
He comes from an athletic family. His father, Marcello, was a high jumper who cleared 2.27m back in 1985, while his mother, Khadidiatou Seck, is a sprinter of Senegalese origin. Mattia’s older sister, Erika, is a 1.94m high jumper who won world U20 silver in 2013 and European U23 bronze in 2017.
Furlani grew up in Marino, just outside Rome, and his first sporting love was basketball, which he played from the age of eight to 13. “I’m still in love with it,” he says. “Every Sunday, I go to the court to play with my friends.”
It’s a sport that both first identified and developed his outstanding jumping ability, with Furlani clearing 2.10m at the age of just 15. These days, he studies at Istituto Professionale Socio Sanitario in Rieti, where those in charge are well aware of his gifts.
“I have never seen a boy with this talent and such good feet,” said Alberto Milardi, technical director of Studentesca Rieti, in a recent interview with Corriere della Sera. “We set no limits.”
Furlani is coached by his parents, with his mother responsible “360 degrees” for his overall physical conditioning and his father doing the technical sessions. “We have very separate tasks and roles and we coach him very harmoniously,” says Khadidiatou.
Behind his laid-back exterior, there’s a fierce competitor in Furlani, one his mother sees every time he trains.
“He always finishes every session and sometimes even does more than what he’s asked to do,” she says. “This is really helpful for us because he’s a very coachable athlete. He is a very strong athlete mentally, extremely determined. He has his own targets and we try to help him reach them.”
He has long looked up to the greats of his events. Olympic champion Gianmarco Tamberi is an obvious icon – “one of the strongest high jumpers in history,” says Furlani – while he also idolises Mike Powell, the long jump world record-holder, who Furlani met at the press conference in Cali on Saturday.
“Powell’s technique and speed, when you put the two together, is one of the main inspirations,” he says.
Furlani has no plans to take his talents to the NCAA once he graduates high school, preferring to stay in Italy. Despite his achievements in the long jump, his training has long been geared more towards the high jump. He will contest both in Cali – his first taste of global competition, but unlikely to be his last.
“The vibes are different here, especially because we’re talking about athletes of a different calibre – world-class level,” he says. “The vibe is a lot more serious, more international but I don’t think it will affect me or my performance.”
With him rising fast through the world-class ranks, there’s an obvious dilemma ahead: one event or two? “For now I’m successful in both so I want to continue training for both but I know the day will come where I have to part ways with one,” he says.
When his mother looks at where he is, the journey he’s on, she knows whatever happens in Cali this week is only the beginning.
“I can see a big margin of improvement,” she says. “We are currently building his base for the future, brick by brick, and what he is creating at this very young age is the basis that will take him very, very far.”
So far, she and Marcello have kept his workload conservative, ensuring their son stays healthy and, crucially, is enjoying his sport.
“We are very aware and respectful of his growth and physical development,” she says. “I have absolutely no doubt that he’ll be capable of achieving all his dreams.”
Cathal Dennehy for World Athletics
