Teenager Mattia Furlani Furlani Equals Long Jump World at Italian Championships
Mattia Furlani, the European champion for under 18 and under 20 categories, shattered the Italian indoor record in the men's long jump not once but twice, reaching 8.31m in the first round and then surpassing it with 8.34m in the fifth round. In addition to these record-breaking jumps, Furlani also achieved two more leaps over 8 meters, with distances of 8.24m and 8.03m. With these performances, Furlani matched the world indoor seasonal best, a mark of 8.34m set by Jamaica’s Wayne Pinnock in Fayetteville on February 3rd.
Furlani improved the previous national record set by Andrew Howe with 8.30m at the 2007 European Indoor Championships in Birmingham. The 19-year-old Italian jumping star set the world under 20 indoor best performance and came just one cm off the overall world under 20 record held by Sergey Morgunov since 2005.
Mattia Furlani: “It was an impressive result. It was a day to remember. I want to thank everyone, who has supported me during this stage of my career. It’s the start of the season and I have to remain focused. I expect a great competition at the World Championships in Glasgow after achieving this result. I want to enjoy myself there”
Lorenzo Simonelli broke his own Italian record in the men’s 60 metres hurdles clocking 7.48, setting the third fastest time in Europe and the seventh best performance in the world in 2024. Simonelli, who set the previous Italian record with 7.50 in Lodz last January, had previously clocked 7.53 in the heats. Matteo Togni set the Italian under 20 record with 7.76 to finish second.
Lorenzo Simonelli: “When I saw 7.48 on the display, I screamed. This result was a relief, as I came close to this time during the season”.
Elisa Molinarolo broke the Italian indoor record in the women’s pole vault by clearing 4.66m. Molinarolo set the previous Italian record with 4.63m in Stockolm on 3 February, but this mark was later improved by Roberta Bruni, who vaulted 4.65m in Roubaix last Wednesday. European under 20 silver medallist Great Nnachi smashed her indoor PB by 13 cm to 4.45m to finish second.
Elisa Molinarolo: “I screamed so loudly, that I lost my voice after breaking the record. I had a clean sheet at 4.20m, 4.40m and 4.60m and this shows that I have made a step forward. The record is the icing on the cake. I have room for improvement and this makes me confident”.
Andy Diaz Hernandez came very close to his world lead to win the men’s triple jump with 17.60m in his sixth attempt. Diaz also produced two more valid marks over the 17 metres with 17.32m and 17.48m in the opening two rounds. World Championships finalist Emmanuel Ihemeje leapt to 17.03m in his only jump.
European indoor gold medallist Zane Weir won his first Italian indoor title with a best mark of 21.69m in the opening round of the men’s shot put. Weir backed up this result with three more valid throws of 21.46m, 21.08m and 20.96m. Weir’s training partner Leonardo Fabbri threw 21.07m in the second round to finish second.
Zaynab Dosso won her second indoor title in the women’s 60 metres in 7.06, missing her fresh national record by just 0.04.
Chituru Ali won his first Italian title in the men’s 60 metres smashing his PB by 0.06 to 6.57 ahead of European Indoor champion Samuele Ceccarelli (6.66).
European indoor silver medallist Larissa Iapichino won her third Italian indoor title improving her seasonal best to 6.80m in the third round. Iapichino had jumped 6.62m in Sabadell and 6.68m in Belgrade in her previous two appearances this season.
Larissa Iapichino: “I made a step forward compared to my previous competitions this year. It’s a good performance, but I feel that I have room for improvement. I am looking forward to competing against the best jumpers at the World Indoor Championships in Glasgow”.
Valentina Trapletti set the world lead in the 3000 metres walking race with 12:35.55. Francesco Fortunato set the third Italian best performance in history in the 5000 metres walking race with his PB of 18:25.15.
Italian 400 metres hurdles record holder Ayomide Folorunso won her fifth national indoor title in the 400 metres in 53.20 holding off Rebecca Borga (53.37).
Olympic 4x400 finalist Edoardo Scotti dominated the men’s 400 metres in 46.57.
Eighteen.year-old Aurora Vicini improved Alessia Trost’s Italian under 20 record to 1.92m to win the women’s high jump.
Ludovica Cavalli won her third Italian indoor record in the women’s 3000 metres in 8:47.76. Federica Del Buono and Marta Zenoni improved their PBs to 8:48.93 and 8:50.31.
Giulia Aprile won a thrilling women’s 1500m race in 4:12.51 edging Marta Zenoni in a photo-finish.
Eloisa Coiro launched her final kick to win her second consecutive women’s 800 metres indoor title in 2:03.12 ahead of Elena Bellò (2:03.90). Francesco Pernici won the men’s 800 metres with his front running tactic in his indoor PB of 1:49.15.
Former Italian record holder Federico Riva claimed the men’s 1500m in 3:39.80 holding off fresh Italian 3000m record holder Pietro Arese (3:40.47). The same finish-order was repeated in the men’s 3000 metres, where Riva took the win in a PB of 7:57.89 ahead of Arese (7:58.92).
Nicla Mosetti won her second consecutive title in the women’s 60 metres hurdles in 8.07 edging out Italian under 23 record holder Veronica Besana (8.09).
Simone Bertelli won the men’s pole vault with 5.50m before failing three attempts at Giuseppe Gibilisco’s Italian under 23 record height of 5.63m.
Other notable wins for Marta Giovannini in the pentathlon (4188) and Marco Fassinotti, who won his third Italian indoor title in the high jump with 2.22m ten years after setting the Italian record with 2.34m in the same arena.
ITALIAN INDOOR CHMAPIONSHIPS 2024 RESULTS
