Athletics, Filippo Tortu has made history…

… and he did it in a unique way, with humility and simplicity,  thanking his father, that is his coach, and all the staff. All of this with the tranquility that has always distinguished him and that makes him a champion in the field, in the study and in life in general.

Filippo Tortu in Madrid, on the track of Moratalaz Stadium, destroys the 10 seconds record in 100 meters: 9.99 (wind +0.2). He is the third white European that succeeds in that, after the French Christophe Lemaitre (9.998 in 2010 and 9.992 in 2011) and the Azerbaijani with Turkish passport Ramil Guliyev (9.997 in 2017). But, moreover, our student and athlete, who has just finished the exams, beats an Italian record that resisted since 4 September 1979!

And this is not a simple record: it was established by the legendary Pietro Mennea, to whose name the scholarship is entitled, in Mexico City.

“I’m really happy, for me, for Italian athletics, for my father and for all of those who supported me – the first words of Filippo – I knew that I could do it, for me the record of Mennea has always remained a dream since I was a child, and now I’m really happy. I want to thank everyone who came here, that perhaps believed more than me in achieving this result”.

A barrier that seemed unattainable collapses, the legendary 10”01’ made by Mennea in Mexico City in 1979, a result that did not cause astonishment for a simple reason: Mennea few years later, made an incredible 19.72 in 200 meters, that was for a long time a world record. And now we are waiting for Filippo also in the 200 meters, sure that with his simplicity he will do the best, as he do in studies, as he do in life.