“I have never seen a boy with this talent and such good feet,” the technical director of Studentesca Rieti, told Corriere della Sera in 2022. He was talking about then-17-year-old Mattia Furlani, whose athletic exploits had started drawing widespread attention and speculation. How far will the boy go? What is his ceiling? Well, bagging an Olympic bronze at the age of 19 is quite impressive. Won’t you agree?
Add to that a silver in the 2024 World Indoor Championships and a gold at the 2025 World Athletics Indoor Tour, you are looking at an athlete who has the potential to be one of the best. And that is not just down to talent. Well, talent is there. But so is the cautious and meticulous planning from the youngster’s parents, who know how to build an athlete up. So, let’s get to know the people behind Mattia Furlani’s rise to stardom.
Who is Mattia Furlani’s father?
Mattia’s father is Marcello Furlani, who was a professional high jump athlete during the 1980s. Well, at his best, he cleared 2.27m in 1985, so that makes him quite a capable high jumper. Having had a successful national and international career, Marcello Furlani used to compete during the times of Marco Tamberi. After retirement, he took up coaching and is known for mentoring young athletes. Maybe that’s why Mattia Furlani has been so well served by his father’s guidance.
Well, you might be thinking how Marcello, being a high jumper, is helping Mattia. Will it surprise you to know that the 2024 European Champion started off competing in both the long jump and the high jump? The 20-year-old has achieved many accolades in the high jump too at the junior level. Like winning the gold in the high jump at the European Athletics U18 Championships by clearing 2.15m. Mattia Furlani shared to Olympics.com in June 2023 how long jumping is in his blood, “He (Father) passed on his passion to me, so naturally, I developed a liking for high jumping. I have always been a high jumper.”
The Italian has also jumped a whopping 8.44m in an international meet, which would have broken the U20 record of 8.35m of Sergey Morgunov, had the favorable wind speed stayed under 2 (2.2m/s). Marcello Furlani’s influence is probably more on his daughter, Erika, who took up long jump and has cleared 1.94m. She has won the world U20 silver in 2013 and followed it up with the European U23 bronze medal in 2017. He is a well-respected figure in Italian athletics, who brings his technical expertise to improve performance.
That has immensely helped shape Mattia Furlani’s technique. However, the real influence behind the Paris Olympian is his mother.
Who is Mattia Furlani’s mother?
Khadidiatou Seck is the chief coach of Mattia Furlani – the one in charge of the overall physical conditioning. Being a professional sprinter for Senegal who has competed at International level gives her enough expertise to guide her son. Talking about the roles of her husband and her, European Athletics quoted her saying at the World U20 Championships in Cali in 2022, “We have very separate tasks and roles and coach him very harmoniously.”
Continuing, the Senegalese-Turned-Italian said, “He (Mattia) always finishes every session and sometimes even does more than what he’s asked to do.” What makes Mattia Furlani destined for success is his attitude, as his mother shares, “He’s a very coachable athlete, a very strong athlete mentally, extremely determined. He has his own targets and we try to help him reach them.” She uses her sprinting expertise to channel more power into Mattia’s jumps.
However, it is a slow and steady process. Because she wants to build a strong foundation on which Mattia Furlani can build a long-term career: “We are currently building his base for the future, brick by brick, and what he is creating at this very young age is the basis that will take him very, very far.” Mattia is still young. So, even though the trainings are grueling, when it is time to compete on the official stage, his mother’s advice is always, “Relax, jump, and enjoy.” The results always come.
What is Mattia Furlani’s Parents’ nationality?
Marcello Furlani is an Italian citizen. And his wife, Khadidiatou Seck, is originally from Senegal. We don’t know if she is an official Italian citizen. Not much is known about their backgrounds. What we do know is how deep their influence has been. Thanks to Khadidiatou Seck and Marcello Furlani, their eldest son, Luca, is also a successful athlete, being a national-level sprinter and long jumper. And as Mattio told Olympics.com, “My dad ignited my passion, but mamma is the one who moulded me as an athlete in the discipline of jumps.”
Talking about his mother, the Olympian said, “She’s everything to me. She trains me, she plans my programmes, she doesn’t sleep at night for me.” There’s a reason she is always there, close to him in the stadium. The one he always consults: “She has developed me, raised me, formed me, so to speak. I owe everything I am now to my mum. She is the primary fundamental piece of my career at the moment.”
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