Mattia Furlani announces his retirement: “My season ends here”

“It’s been two and a half months now since that injury in China. Two months during which my primary goal was to recover as fully as possible so I could return to the mat healthy—even before thinking about performing at my best. Months during which I worked very hard both on the mat and with the medical staff. If I hadn’t been absolutely certain—and the Monte Carlo test proved it—I would never have stepped onto the runway, knowing full well the risk of a probable relapse.”

This is how Italian long jumper Mattia Furlani explained on his social media accounts the reasons that had convinced him to return to competition, before being forced to withdraw again. Furlani was, in fact, forced to withdraw after his first jump in the qualifying round at the European Championships in Paris, due to a new hamstring injury.

“I felt good today; I was starting strong, but evidently my body, at certain intensities, wasn’t yet ready to return to the speeds I was used to, and I suffered a relapse.” This new injury comes at a particularly difficult time for the young Italian talent, who makes no secret of the challenges he’s faced in recent months. “These past few months have probably been the worst I’ve ever experienced: I’m struggling with a lack of confidence in myself and my abilities, which has only been growing lately, and I feel like the path ahead is a bit blurry. My season ends here.”