by the correspondent in Rome – Mattia Furlani, vertical growth. The blue long jump prodigy, already a silver medal at the Indoor World Championships in Glasgow, also reaches the podium at the European Championships in Rome, confirming his second place behind Miltiadis Tentoglou. The native of Marino, born in 2005, flies to 8.36m with his first jump, establishing a new Under 20 world record and inflaming the capital’s public. Tentoglou, however, is not impressed and – after the 8.42 of the first leap and the 8.49 of the third – he finishes with a double 8.65 which earns him, in addition to yet another gold medal of his career (the third at continental level, ed.), also the new championship record. It’s worth saying: devastating athlete. Third was the Swiss Simon Ehammer: the class of 2000 failed to repeat the measurement of 8.41 recorded yesterday morning and ended with bronze.
“Tentoglou is a champion, he encourages both me and him, it turned out to be the best long-distance race in the history of the event, I think, which is absurd to say. It’s the best race in my life, even with some small technical errors caused by the enthusiasm of the race. We can do much better but all these technical aspects will come with time. It was a great test. Continuing on this path, I would never have imagined the world record. I’m proud of the day, of the crowd. It’s the beginning of a long series, there is biological growth, technical mental growth taking place and we are on the right path… We just need to work and everything will come.”
