Furlani injured at European Championships, misses out on long jump final

World champion long jumper Mattia Furlani was forced to withdraw from the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham after an unfortunate landing during his opening jump.

The 21-year-old Italian athlete managed a jump of 7.73 meters but immediately clutched his right leg, visibly limping and unable to continue with his remaining two qualification attempts. Medical staff assisted him off the field in a wheelchair.

While the Italian national team has not yet officially confirmed the extent of the injury, there are concerns it could be a repeat of a previous injury he sustained earlier in the season at a Diamond League event in China. Furlani had been steadily recovering from that setback in recent weeks.

Furlani, the bronze medalist at the Paris Olympics, secured the world championship title in Tokyo last year. This season, he has already achieved a remarkable jump of 8.43 meters, surpassing the winning mark of 8.39 meters from the Tokyo games.