Winning a world gold at 20 years old, 7 months and 20 days is not something that often happens, indeed it is something that had never happened until the feat of Mattia Furlani: the native of Marino (Rome) became the youngest athlete in history to win the most coveted medal in the long jump. The triumph took place in the final of Wednesday 17 September at the Tokyo Athletics World Cup in Japan thanks to a jump of 8.39 meters, his personal record, detaching the rivals Tajay Gayle (8.34 m) and Shi Yuhao (8.33 m). Mattia’s is not a simple gold, it is a historic victory for Italian and world sport; The athlete of the Fiamme Oro Padova pulverized the earliness record of the legend Carl Lewis who won gold in Helsinki in 1983 at 22, becoming not only the youngest gold in the history of the long jump but, in general, of Italian athletics by anticipating a year Michele Didoni, a marquite champion in 1995. Mattia’s skills have already been known for some time, son of two athletes Marcello Furlani (Altista) and Khaty Seck (Synegalese -born sprinter). Sport has always been its daily bread: from the high jump to the speed until it consecrates itself as a young promise of the long jump has beaten several records in the youth categories reaching the bronze at the Paris 2024 Olympics and the world gold arrived at the fifth leap of an exciting race.
As the world gold of Furlani has arrived
The final of the long jump at the Tokyo 2025 athletics World Cup was staged on the afternoon of Wednesday 17 September with the classic two phases: qualification and final with a total of 6 jumps available to win a medal. The long jump, a discipline introduced for the first time in the 708 BC at the 18th Olympiad in Greece, provides that, after a run -up, the athlete must jump before a limit area (joke axis) trying to land as far as possible on the sand. The jump is measured starting from the beaten axis regardless of the detachment point and the jump to be considered valid and not null and not to be detached before the end of the beaten axis, land correctly inside the sand hole, end with an exit forward by the landing area and be performed without the use of sideways.
Mattia Furlani qualified in the final with the measure of 8.07 which earned him in 9th place and entry to the final phase together with the best jumpers in the world. After a complicated beginning of his opponents Tajay Gayle (champion in 2019), Miltiadis Tentoglou (reigning champion) and Bozhidar Saraboyukov (European indoor gold), Mattia in the long run managed to turn his race.
Here is Mattia’s progression, jump after jump:
- 1st jump – null: Mattia begins badly finding himself at the bottom of the ranking.
- 2nd jump – 8.13 meters: the first valid size the result of a good jump brings it momentarily to the 2nd place.
- 3rd jump – null: with the second empty measure Mattia slipped up to 7th placerisking the elimination.
- 4th jump – 8.22 meters: with a great leap, it went back to 4th position and guaranteeing the possibility to continue the race
- 5th jump – 8.39 meters: Mattia improves his Personal Best of 8.38 m, and leads to 1st place in the standings.
- 6th jump – 8.07 meters: none of his opponents manages to improve his measure to the latest attempt.
Silver and bronze went to the Jamaican Tajay Gayle respectively (8.34 m) and the Chinese Yuhao Shi (8.33 m), Simon Ehammer (8.30 m) closed in fourth place.
The evening had not started at the top but we remained lucid, calmly and patience, without creating disorder that in such contexts leads nothing. We managed the race perfectly, we believed in it until the last, adjusting the run -up until we find the jump that gave me gold
When Mattia Furlani says “we have”, he does not use a generic plural, but speaks of a unique relationship: the one with his mother Khaty Seck, who is not only a family figure for him, but also his coach. It was her, as Mattia himself has repeatedly pointed out, the key to his technical and mental growth, a link that proved decisive to achieve these extraordinary goals.
Mattia Furlani’s records: the Italian “Rising Star”
With the historic performance at the Furlani World Championships, he entered the young age of 20 years, 7 months and 20 days in the circle of the great leap in the long jump and in general of Italian athletics. The rise of the native of Marino already started in 2022, when at the age of 17 he showed his potential in the discipline by beating Andrew Howe’s record in the students category with the measure of 7.87 meters. After a brace at the European under 18 with gold in the long jump and jump up, in 2023 he set the European Indoor European record and beat the Italian Junior record always in Howe with a jump of 8.24 meters.
Still, in 2024 at 19, he recorded the Italian absolute indoor record (8.34 m) and established the Under 20 world record with 8.38 meters At the European Championships in Rome where he brought silver home. A year to frame considering the bronze at the Paris Olympics and the “Rising Star” award by World Athletics (first Italian of history to win it). Tokyo’s, is not the first gold among the “great”: the athlete of the Fiamme Oro had already won the most coveted medal at the Nanchino (China) indoor world medal with 8.37 m.
The list of primates continues by inconvenience the legend Carl Lewis, “The son of the wind ” who held the record of the youngest champion of the long jump, with the victory at the age of 22 at the Athletics World Cup (Helsinki – 1983), a record beaten by Mattia.
Finally, it is the youngest Italian ever has to win a gold in the five great events (Olympics, Indoor and outdoor World Championships, Indoor and Outdoor European Championships). Until Mattia’s performance, it was Michele Didoni who held this record with his 21 years when he won 20 km away in 1995 in Gothenburg. We just have to follow the career of this prodigy whose goal could be the Italian record in long standing from 2007 to 8.47 meters by Andrew Howe.
