Unlocking talent in sport: meet Mattia Furlani

We met with Mattia on a sunny day at the athletics track in his native Rieti. People say that he looks like Spiderman with curly hair on his head and two wire springs under his feet. Nevertheless, at 19 years old Mattia Furlani is also a winning model of determination, inclusion and passion. For this reason, UniCredit chose him to be its Ambassador, supporting him at the European Athletics Championships, which are scheduled to take place in Rome from 7 to 12 June with UniCredit as the Official Sponsor.

UNLOCKING is the title of our video with him: he told us about the first steps he made to unlock his talent and achieve his first great results, which we hope will be just the beginning of a long journey.

Thanks to his astonishing performances, especially at his age, in 2024 Mattia became world indoor vice-champion and Italian long jump champion. His journey, which began in Rieti, at the Raul Guidobaldi stadium - where he practised most of his afternoons coached by his mother Khaty Seck, a sprinter of Senegalese origin - is also an example of how sport is a mirror of life. “To achieve a result – he emphasises – we need to avoid distractions, without ever feeling accomplished but showing a constant will to improve and, above all, without getting discouraged when we feel like we can't make it. Because achieving the goals we set for ourselves is a long-term process”.

We said goodbye with the hope to see him on top of the podium in Rome, and he closed this short interview with one of the sentences that surprised us the most:
“If you want to achieve a result, you have to enjoy the journey as much as possible”.

At UniCredit we share the positive values sport brings with it and firmly believe that everyone can unlock their potential, always guided by our purpose of empowering communities to progress in everything we do.