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18-year-old Furlani flies to wind-assisted 8.44m in Savona

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Double European U18 champion Mattia Furlani produced another moment of sheer brilliance at the Meeting di Savona on Wednesday (24) evening, a World Athletics Continental Tour Challenger event. 

The precocious Italian leapt out to a phenomenal 8.44m in the third round of the long jump. This was in excess of the world U20 record of 8.35m but frustratingly, the wind was just above the legal limit at 2.2 m/s so won't count for record purposes.  However, his mark was the longest in history by an U20 athlete in all conditions. 

Furlani - by virtue of a 2005 birthdate - still has the best part of two seasons to rewrite the record books. And his room for improvement is still significant as Furlani only took up the event last year having previously been better known as a high jumper. 

"No, I still have to realise what I did. I went crazy when I saw the distance of 8.44m. The wind came out on the scoreboard shortly after, but this didn't change my reaction, it's a great performance and I'm really happy because I worked so hard to prepare for the summer season. 

“I have improved many things, starting from the run-up. I put in a lot more strength than I had before. Even the first jump - although a foul - was very long and in this case it wasn't windy. In Savona I found a really good platform. 

“Now let's think about the big competitions of the season: the European U20 Championships in Jerusalem in August remain my goal but now we can also think about the World Athletics Championships in Budapest," said Furlani as quoted by FIDAL.

Furlani was one of the stars of the European Athletics U18 Championships in Jerusalem last July. He won the long jump title with a European U18 best of 8.04m before winning the high jump title with 2.15m.

And his talents do not seem to be limited to the field either. Furlani recently made his outdoor 200m debut, clocking an eye-catching 21.12 for the distance.  

British sprinters also excelled in Savona. European bronze medallist Daryll Neita opened her season with a 10.97 clocking in the 100m ahead of Luxembourg's Patrizia Van Der Weken who lowered her national record to 11.18. 

 

Reece Prescod won the men's 100m with a wind-assisted 9.94 (2.7), Dina Asher-Smith glided to victory in the 200m in 22.61 and Laviai Nielsen won the 400m in 51.60 ahead of former European champion Justyna Swiety-Ersetic from Poland in 52.18. 

Other highlights included European indoor 60m hurdles champion Reetta Hurske winning the 100m hurdles in 12.80, just 0.02 shy of her lifetime best, and fellow European champion Zane Weir winning the shot put with 21.60m.

Full results here.






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