Mattia Furlani

Mattia Furlani Honours

Sports Career of Mattia Furlani | Mattia Furlani Biography

Mattia Furlani is the defending world champion in the men’s long jump, despite still only being 21 years old. He also has the longest jump of all time by a U20 athlete.

Furlani was born into an athletic family, with both his parents being former track athletes. He showed early promise in both the high jump and long jump. In 2019, he jumped 1.99 meters at the age of 14 to win the Italian U16 Championships.

Much of his next season was disrupted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but he jumped 2.10 meters in a late competition in September.

Fulani started flashing his talent for real in 2021 once competitions returned to basically their normal schedule. He ran 10.88 seconds in the 100-meter and went on to jump 2.16 meters in the high jump at the Italian Championships at the age of 16.

He then had another great performance at the European Athletics U20 Championships in Estonia, finishing 7^th with a jump of 2.15 meters against people three years older than him. He bettered his best to 2.17 meters at the end of the summer at the Italian U18 Club Championships.

Switch from High Jump to Long Jump

Despite showing extraordinary promise in the high jump, Furlani started competing in the long jump in 2022. In his first competition, he jumped 7.47 meters. He continued competing in both jumps throughout the year, also occasionally running the short sprints. His season best in the 100-meter was 10.64 seconds in the 100 meters.

Furlani improved his long jump to 8.04 meters by the end of the season, a mark that won the European U18 Championships in Jerusalem, Israel. He also won the high jump with a jump of 2.15 meters.

Continuing this success, Furlani also finished seventh at the World U20 Championships in Cali, Colombia, in the long jump and eighth in the high jump. On August 10^th, still only 17, he competed in his first Diamond League Meeting in Monaco, jumping 7.90 meters and finishing seventh.

In 2023, Furlani dropped the high jump completely to focus on the long jump. The decision would pay off since he would jump 8.44 meters with a 2.2m/s wind on May 24^th, which would have been over the World U20 Record had the wind stayed under 2.0m/s. A few days later, he would jump 8.24 meters into a headwind at the FBK Games in the Netherlands.

In August 2023, Furlani won the U20 European Championships in the same stadium where he won the U18 title the year before. He also competed at the World Championships in Budapest, but wouldn’t make it past qualifying.

The next season, in 2024, he finished second at the World Indoor Championships in Glasgow, jumping 8.22 meters. On May 15^th, 2024, Furlani broke the World U20 record when he jumped 8.36 meters, breaking Sergey Morgunov’s record by one centimeter.

He broke his own record again by two centimeters at the European Championships, jumping 8.38 meters and finishing second to Miltiadis Tentoglou. He went on to win his first Olympic Medal in Paris, jumping 8.34 meters into a headwind and finishing third behind Tentoglou and Wayne Pinnock. 

Mattia Furlani World Champion

Furlani opened his 2025 indoor season in good form, jumping 8.23 meters at the Czech Indoor Gala. He surpassed this mark in March, jumping 8.30 meters at the World Indoor Championships and winning his first global championship at the senior level.

He continued to consistently jump over 8.00 meters throughout the season, leading into the World Championships in Tokyo. Here, he jumped 8.39 meters to take home gold over Jamaica’s Tajay Gayle, who jumped 8.34 meters.

Mattia Furlani Personal Life and Other Facts | Who is Mattia Furlani?

Mattia Furlani is the son of the former high jumper Marcello Furlani, who jumped 2.27m. His mother, Khaty Seck, is of Senegalese heritage and used to compete in the 100-meter and 200-meter.

Mattia started as a high jumper, like his father, before focusing on the long jump. In an interview with Olympics.com in 2023, he said:

“I was born as a high jumper because my father was a former high jumper and he taught me how to jump. He passed on his passion to me, so naturally, I developed a liking for high jumping. I have always been a high jumper.”

Furlani also has two siblings, Erika and Luca, who both focus on the jumps. At the time of writing, Erika had a personal best of 1.94 meters in the high jump and is the former Italian Champion from 2017. Luca has a personal best of 7.19 meters in the long jump.

When he was younger, Furlani also tried other sports like basketball and other track events, such as the short sprints. He ran 10.64 seconds in the 100-meter dash as a 17-year-old.

Furlani has said that “Mondo” Duplantis is a source of inspiration both on and off the field. He called Duplantis “the perfect role model” of an athlete.

FAQs

Where are Mattia Furlani’s Parents From? | Furlani Parents | Mattia Furlani Genitori

Mattia Furlani’s dad, Marcello Furlani, was an Italian high jumper. His mom is a former international-level sprinter from Senegal

What is Mattia Furlani’s Personal Best?

Furlani has a personal best of 8.38 meters in the long jump. He has also jumped 8.44 meters with a slightly illegal wind.