Athletics, Mattia Furlani Men’s Rising Star European 2023

Athletics, Mattia Furlani Men's Rising Star European 2023

Mattia Furlani won the "Men's Rising Star 2023" in Vilnius, Lithuania, where European Athletics awarded the Golden Tracks reserved for the best European athletes of the year. The 18-year-old Italian è was named the best emerging European athlete of 2023.

For the champion from Rieti, this is the crowning achievement of a season that saw him win the gold medal in the long jump at the under-20 European Championships in Jerusalem with 8.23, touching his personal best of 8.24, to which he also added a windy 8.44 in Savona, the best-ever measure in the world for a teenager in any condition.

"È I have been dreaming of this award for a year – the words of Furlani, who had been in the trio of finalists in the last edition – and è the best way to approach the next season, the one of the European Championships in Rome and the Olympics in Paris".

È the second time an Italian athlete has won this award, following Andrew Howe's success in the inaugural edition in 2007.