World long jump champion Mattia Furlani and double world medallist Nadia Battocletti have been named Italian Athletes of the Year for the second successive year.
Still only 20, Furlani won both the world indoor and outdoor long jump titles in 2025. He became the youngest ever world outdoor champion in the event at the World Athletics Championships, sailing out to a lifetime best of 8.39m to win gold in Tokyo.
Battocletti had another exceptional year, winning four major medals across three surfaces. In between winning 10,000m silver and 5000m bronze at the World Athletics Championships, Battocletti won 10km gold at the inaugural European Running Championships before concluding her year by defending her European cross country title in Lagoa.
Double European U20 champion Kelly Doualla and world 800m semifinalist Francesco Pernici were named women’s and men’s Rising Stars for 2025 respectively.
At just 15, Doualla blazed to 100m and 4x100m gold at the European Athletics U20 Championships in Tampere while Pernici, 22, improved to 1:43.94 in the 800m and just missed out on a place in the final by 0.04.
The triumphant Italian team at the European Athletics Team Championships in Madrid were also named Team of the Year. L’Azzurri defended their team title from 2023 in comprehensive style, winning by over 26 points from Poland.