A new star in the world of athletics. Great Mattia Furlani At the World Indoor Championships in Glasgow: The 19-year-old diver wins the silver medal with the same measure (8.22) as the Olympic champion in Tokyo and the world champion in Budapest, the Greek Miltiadis Tentoglou: Only the second best measurement separated them on the podium, which was 8.10 for Furlani while Tentoglou landed at 8.19.

Furlani in tears (afp)

The Italian climbs to the first big podium of his career, and immediately afterwards he becomes emotional when he thinks about his trainer mother Khaty Seckand then make an imitation of it Miles Morales, one of the characters who transforms into Spiderman and to whom Mattia is compared by his friends due to his resemblance. Meanwhile, Tentoglou crowns the rising star: “He’s a beast, he could have beaten me.”

Mattia Furlani: “I thank my mother for my superpowers”

by Mattia Chiusano

Furlani, a great duel

It was a great duel where the difference was between those who have won everything in the last three years (including silver at the 2022 Eugene World Championships) and those still in the youth categories, gold in the 2023 European U20 Championships and under 18 could not be perceived in 2022. The two opponents immediately achieved the best measurement of 8.22 on the first jump, and on the second jump the Greek was able to gain a small lead and landed at 7.94, three centimeters more than Furlani. After a zero from Tentoglou, Furlani followed a 7.86 with an 8.10 that put him in the lead. But the Tokyo champion responded immediately with an 8.15, then a final 8.19, to which Mattia initially responded with an 8.04, before going all out with a final jump that ended with his first zero. Three to one centimeter at the end: the Jamaican third with 8.21 Carey McLeod.

Furlani: “I thank my mother”

“Incredible, my medal in a race at 10 a.m. against the Olympic champion. This is all a dream, the result of a lot of work done in the last few weeks. I would like to thank everyone who supported me on my journey. We just have to continue on this path,” said the tall man at the microphones Rai before it brings you to tears. “I gained a lot of experience at the World Championships in Budapest and I am very happy to have achieved such a result despite the work I did. I pursued this result so much that it is something different to have achieved it. I thank my mother, it was she who made this result possible for me. I have achieved mental stability, which has only increased in the last few months. I’m sure I’ll gain even more experience in the next races. I dedicate this medal to everyone who supported me for this result and to myself for everything it took me to get there. It’s the first stage of a long journey, we have to stay grounded because there is still a lot to do on a mental and technical level, let’s keep it up.”

His father, born in Castelli Romani, was a high jumper

Mattia Furlani was born in Grottaferrata in the Castelli Romani, he trains in Rieti and is often in Rome, where his girlfriend lives and plays for Roma, of which he is a “sick” fan. He has a perfect body for the sport, is very light at 1.83 meters tall and has completed four consecutive tests over 8 meters at the Absolutes this season, including the 8.34, which gives him the best U20 world performance and the best overall season record led to Glasgow. and with Andrew Howe’s Italian indoor record after 17 years. His mother Khaty Seck, As a former sprinter, she is his coach and his father also comes from the world of sports Marcello, Old is. Furlani says of her mother: “Every evening she sits there and plans my training sessions, she wakes up at four in the morning to prepare them and sleeps in the afternoon precisely because she is awake in the evening and working on them.” She is the driving machine , which carries out revolutionary programs.”

Zaynab Dosso: “At the World Cup with the favorites, but don’t ask me about the show”

by Mattia Chiusano

Dosso, Simonelli and Tecuceanu also performed well

Meanwhile, other blues are making progress: good Zaynab Dosso in the 60s (7.10 in liquid form, semi-final at 8:45 p.m.), Lorenzo Simonelli (in the 60 hours he runs in 7.61, semifinals at 20.10), while Catalin Tecuceanu qualifies for the 800 final on Sunday at 10:10 p.m.