Athletics EC Championships on channels June 7–June 12. See schedules and shipping information at this link.
Top long jump talent Mattia Furlani could not start his international top career from the most delicious starting points. The 19-year-old Italian competes as a fresh junior world record holder in his home race.
Born in 2005, Furlani is one of the world’s most fascinating young athletics talents. Finnish promise Kasperi Vehmaan the peer has dazzled the international athletics community with his incredible feats over the course of two years.
A year ago, he jumped no less than 844, but the tailwind was a little too much to be statistically valid. In May, he rocked the new youth ME and Greece Miltiadis Tenglou the 836 result, which is next to the world’s top result.
The hardness of the value of the ME result in question is emphasized by the fact that young Furlani has only been seriously aiming for the long jump for a year and a half. It’s about true natural talent.
2005 WC bronze medalist in the long jump Tommi Evilä believes that the 19-year-old sensation can fight for both the European championship and the Olympic victory this summer. The challenge is tough, because Miltiadis Tentoglou, who has dominated the sport in recent years, is a very good competitor.
– Everything is completely new to Mattia. The table is clean, it only has successes below it and he only goes towards successes. At some point in your career, there will be setbacks, which will shape your thinking. However, Mattia now only has successes, so he has every chance to succeed.
Mother and Jose Mourinho
Mattia Furlani originally entered athletics as a high jumper. His father Marcello jumped a career-best 227.
– My father is a former high jumper and showed me how to jump, Furlani said In an interview with the International Olympic Committee.
Furlani focused more on the long jump. A couple of years ago, he decided to aim for the sport more seriously.
The teenager is coached by his mother Khaty Seck. The woman of Senegalese background competed in the 100 and 200 meter distances.
– He is everything to me. He coaches me and makes the training programs. My mother has raised me and shaped me into who I am. I owe my mother everything she has done for me, Furlani said beautifully about her mother.
It is interesting that the previous strong Italian long jumper was also coached by his own mother. Winner of European Championship and World Cup silver Andrew Howe is a jumper familiar to Evilä from her own races.
Evilä himself was coached by his own father. He knows from his own experiences that a father-child coaching relationship can be a very functional entity.
– A parent can see their child’s state of alertness right away in the morning. We know how to look at the training load in terms of the whole day. The coach is also a guardian who knows what to do that day as well.
Furlani, who supports AS Roma in football, told the International Olympic Committee in an interview that he would like to join his coaching team Jose Mourinho’s. The Portuguese is one of the most legendary football coaches of the 21st century.
– He is the coach of my dreams. For me, he is a great psychologist, and it would be really great to have him on board, for example, as a spiritual coach, Furlani dreamed.
To new technology
Furlani is a passionate athletics fan. His great source of inspiration is the best all-around athlete in the world at the moment, the eight-time ME man in the pole vault Armand Duplantis.
– He is a truly exceptional guy, both on and off the track. Although I have nothing to do with pole vaulting myself, Duplantis is the perfect role model to use as an example.
According to Evilä, Furlan’s explosive rise is due to a significant technical change. The young man used to jump with the so-called rappelling style. Nowadays, he is German 2.5 times in the air.
In recent years, the level of the men’s ball has risen tremendously, as an even greater number of people prefer spin instead of the packing technique.
– He has very quickly adopted the 2.5 German. Once Darcy Robert started to change technology to German. Some succeed and some don’t. Furlani is also a fast guy, as he ran 10.70 100 two years ago. The speed for long jumps is there.
“Shocking stuff”
The meeting between Greece’s Tentoglou and Italy’s Furlani is one of the most interesting duels of the Rome Games.
Tentoglou has won everything in his career: Olympic gold, world championship, two European championships, two indoor track WC golds and three indoor European championships.
Tentoglou and Furlani had an interesting shot already in the winter WC halls. At that time, the Greek, who was seven years older, took the championship and Furlani won the silver in a wonderful way. In the hall, Furlani jumped an excellent 834 without wind aids.
– When you can jump over 830 in the hall, there is every possibility to jump around 840-850 under suitable conditions. It’s quite shocking stuff in value competitions. Tentoglou, on the other hand, has a winning culture on his side.
The European Athletics Championships start on Friday. Below you can see the mood of Lotta Harala, the debutant of the European Championships in outdoor tracks, before the preliminaries of the 100-meter hurdles.