Italy's track and field contingent is competing at the 2026 European Athletics Championships in Birmingham, where Olympic champion Marcell Jacobs aims to secure an unprecedented third consecutive 100 meters title while veteran high jumper Gianmarco Tamberi returns from injury setbacks in his quest to defend his European crown.
Why This Matters
• Historic pursuit: Jacobs could become only the third man ever to win three straight European 100m titles, joining an elite club that includes Valerii Borzov and Linford Christie.
• Italian medal momentum: The Italy national athletics team has already secured a historic double in shot put with Leonardo Fabbri's gold and Zane Weir's silver—the first time Italy has captured both podium spots in this discipline at a European Championship.
• Injury setbacks: Rising long jump star Mattia Furlani withdrew after re-injuring himself during qualifications, ending his season prematurely and casting doubt on his preparation for future international competitions.
• Tamberi's comeback: The Olympic high jump champion returns to competition after 299 days away, acknowledging he must "rediscover trust in my body" following knee surgery and persistent foot problems.
Jacobs Chases Continental Immortality
Marcell Jacobs, the Tokyo 2020 Olympic 100m champion, enters Tuesday's men's final at Birmingham's Alexander Stadium carrying the weight of history and the memory of a legend. The 32-year-old sprinter, who claimed European gold in 2022 and defended it successfully in 2024, acknowledged that victory would place him alongside only two other men who have achieved three consecutive European sprint titles.
"I've come off two titles in a row and I want to win the third," Jacobs told Sky Sport Italia before the final. "I'll put absolutely everything I have into this."
The Italy sprinter described the 2026 season as transformative in restoring his confidence. "It's been a truly important season for me because it's made me feel good sensations again, it's made me run fast," he said.
But Jacobs also carried emotional weight into the competition. He dedicated his race to Livio Berruti, the Italian athletics icon who died on the eve of the championships at age 87. Berruti remains the only Italian to win Olympic gold in the 200 meters, achieving that feat at the 1960 Rome Games—a performance that carried symbolic weight in Italy's post-war era.
"Tomorrow I'm sure he'll run next to me, behind me, giving me all the push possible and necessary," Jacobs said in tribute to the legendary sprinter.
Tamberi's Journey Through Doubt
While Jacobs chases history, Gianmarco Tamberi confronts a more personal battle. The Olympic and world high jump champion arrived in Birmingham with what he candidly described as "an embarrassing personal best this season" but insisted his physical condition feels "very good."
"I'd like to know how I'm doing myself," Tamberi joked when asked about his fitness before quickly turning serious. "I'm happy to be here. It's good to be here so I can return to aspiring to something more important."
The Italy high jumper's struggles trace back to late 2024, when he underwent knee surgery—an operation he had delayed to compete at the Paris Olympics. The procedure's aftermath proved more challenging than anticipated. "I lost confidence in my technical movement, with so many jumps done in unsuitable conditions," Tamberi admitted.
The 2026 season brought additional setbacks. In January, doctors diagnosed him with plantar fasciitis in his right foot, requiring invasive therapies that yielded slow results. A kidney stone threatened to require emergency surgery, temporarily putting his European Championships participation in doubt.
After 299 days away from competition, Tamberi returned at July's Herculis Diamond League meeting in Monaco. Now he faces the European final on August 14—a date that coincides with his daughter Camilla's first birthday, adding personal significance to the competition.
"At the national championships I understood that I need to let myself go," Tamberi reflected. "This year I don't need to carry the fear of jumping with me. I need to return to believing in my body."
Despite his abbreviated preparation, Tamberi refuses to lower expectations. "I'm here to try to defend my title. It will be difficult but I'm not afraid to say it." He holds the European Championships record at 2.37 meters, set during a previous title defense.
The veteran athlete acknowledged that his motivation has evolved. "I have an enormous hunger to achieve results. I train with the same determination—actually, the dedication in terms of time is perhaps even greater."
Furlani's Season Ends in Painful Recurrence
The Birmingham championships delivered a crushing blow to one of Italy's brightest young talents. Mattia Furlani, the 19-year-old long jumper who had electrified the sport with his performances, suffered a re-injury during his first attempt in qualifications, forcing his withdrawal and ending his 2026 season.
"My season ends here," Furlani wrote in an emotional Instagram post. The injury represented a recurrence of a problem sustained in China two and a half months earlier—an issue he had worked intensively to rehabilitate.
"These were two months in which the objective was first of all to recover properly to try to return to the runway healthy, even before being performant," Furlani explained. "Months in which we worked a lot both on the field and with the medical staff. If I hadn't had extreme certainty (and the Monaco test was proof of this) I would never have entered the runway running the risk, aware of a probable relapse."
The young athlete revealed the psychological toll. "Today I felt good, I was coming in strong and evidently my body, at certain intensities, wasn't yet ready to return to the speeds I was used to, suffering a relapse. In these months I've probably gone through the worst moments up to now."
Despite the setback, Francesco Inzoli ensured Italian representation in the men's long jump final by qualifying with a mark of 8.34 meters, offering some consolation for the Italy athletics delegation.
Mixed Results in Sprint and Throws
The women's 100 meters delivered both promise and disappointment for Italy. Zaynab Dosso advanced through heats and semifinals, clocking 11.11 seconds to reach the final. But the decisive race proved frustrating—she finished seventh in 11.12 seconds, a result that left her openly self-critical.
"Today I give myself a two out of ten," Dosso told reporters. "I wasn't able to react and I want to be severe with myself. I was ready and leaving the stadium seeing the medal times, it burns a bit because it was a race within my reach. It's a bitter pill to swallow."
Her teammate Gloria Hooper was eliminated in the semifinals, finishing eighth in her heat.
In the throws, Italy demonstrated formidable depth. Beyond the shot put double, Sara Fantini qualified for the women's hammer final with a throw of 70.51 meters, keeping medal hopes alive in multiple disciplines.
The mixed 4x400 meters relay team—Mohamed Soudassi, Anna Polinari, Luca Sito, and Alice Mangione—finished sixth in the final with a time of 3:13.20, a solid if unspectacular result in one of track's most competitive events.
What This Means for Italy's Athletics Future
Tamberi offered perspective on the broader state of Italy's track and field program, calling the Birmingham squad "the strongest ever—a very united team with many young people capable of growing themselves and others, with humility."
He warned against complacency among emerging talents. "Thinking yourself already great is the best way not to reach the objective." In the new generation, he sees "a great fire, that of those who don't want to settle for great results to obtain enormous results."
That assessment reflects the dual nature of Italy's athletics moment: established champions like Jacobs and Tamberi pursue legacy-defining achievements while navigating physical challenges, even as younger athletes like Furlani confront the harsh reality that talent alone cannot overcome physical setbacks.
The Birmingham championships, running through August 16 at Alexander Stadium in Birmingham, United Kingdom, will ultimately reveal whether Italy's athletics ambitions rest on secure foundations or require significant recalibration before the next Olympic cycle. For now, the nation watches as its champions—some confident, others rebuilding, all determined—chase medals that carry weight far beyond the podium.
