Fausto Desalu

Fausto Desalu
Desalu in 2022
Personal information
Full nameEseosa Fostine Desalu
NationalityNigerian and Italian
Born (1994-02-19) 19 February 1994
Casalmaggiore, Italy
Height1.79 m (5 ft 10 in)
Weight69 kg (152 lb)
Sport
SportAthletics
Event
Sprint
ClubG.S. Fiamme Gialle
Coached by
  • Giangiacomo Contini
  • Sebastian Bacchieri
Achievements and titles
Personal bests
  • 100 m: 10.21 (2022)
  • 200 m: 20"08 (2024)
Medal record
Men's athletics
Representing  Italy
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place2020 Tokyo4 × 100 m relay
World Relays
Gold medal – first place2021 Chorzów4 × 100 m relay
European Championships
Bronze medal – third place2026 Birmingham200 m
Mediterranean Games
Silver medal – second place2018 Tarragona200 m
Military World Games
Gold medal – first place2015 Mungyeong200 m

Eseosa Fostine "Fausto" Desalu (Italian pronunciation: [ezeˈoːza ˈfausto deˈzaːlu];[1] born 19 February 1994) is an Italian sprinter who specialises in the 200 metres. He is the second-fastest Italian ever in the distance behind only Pietro Mennea, with a personal best of 20.08 seconds.

He was part of the 4 × 100 m relay team that won gold at the 2020 Summer Olympics.[2]

Biography

Born in Casalmaggiore, Italy, to Nigerian parents, Desalu acquired Italian citizenship in 2012, aged 18.

He originally focused on association football in his youth. However, he began to take up track and field around 2008, initially focusing on the sprint hurdles. His speed was better than his technique and he eventually focused on the 200 m instead. He gained full Italian citizenship in 2012.[3] A member of Gruppi Sportivi Fiamme Gialle – the sports club of Italy's fiscal police force – he made his international debut at the 2012 World Junior Championships in Athletics. However, he failed to progress beyond the heats.[4] He also ran with the 4 × 100 metres relay team, but they were also eliminated in the heats stage.[5]

Desalu's first international medal came at the 2013 European Athletics Junior Championships, where he was a relay bronze medallist on home turf in Rieti, running the anchor leg on a team of Giacomo Isolano, Lorenzo Bilotti and Roberto Rigali. He also managed fifth place individually in the 200 m.[6] His first senior medal followed at the 2014 European Team Championships, where he was part of the bronze medal-winning relay quartet alongside Massimiliano Ferraro, Diego Marani, and Delmas Obou.[7] He was selected both individually and for the relay for Italy at the 2014 European Athletics Championships. He was a semi-finalist in the 200 m, having set a best of 20.55 seconds in the heats, and was a finalist in the relay with Fabio Cerutti, Marani and Obou (although the Italians failed to finish).[6]

Desalu had his first appearance at global senior level at the 2015 IAAF World Relays, though the regrouped European Championships team did not make it past the heats. At the 2015 Military World Games he won the 200 m gold medal, a tenth of a second ahead of runner-up Serhiy Smelyk.[8] He came close to a second medal at the games in the relay, placing fourth with Cerutti, Obou and Matteo Galvan.[9]

On 4 September 2020, he became the first Italian to win a 200 m race event of the Diamond League during the Memorial Van Damme in 20.39 seconds.[10] The following year, he made history by being part of the Italian team that won the gold medal in the 4 × 100 m relay at the 2020 Olympic Games held in Tokyo.[11]

At the 2026 European Championships held in Birmingham, Desalu claimed the bronze medal in the 200 metres with a time of 20.26 seconds.[12]

Statistics

National records

Personal bests

For reference:

  • split time of 4 × 100 m relay - 9.170 (third leg) (2021)

Achievements

Desalu (first from right) with Federico Cattaneo, Filippo Tortu and Davide Manenti, the Italian national track relay team, at the 2018 Mediterranean Games.
YearCompetitionVenuePositionEventNotes
2012 World Junior Championships Barcelona, Spain — (heats) 200 m DQ
5th (heats) 4 × 100 m relay 40.41
2013 European Junior Championships Rieti, Italy 5th 200 m 21.16
3rd 4 × 100 m relay 40.00
2014 European Team Championships Braunschweig, Germany 3rd 4 × 100 m relay 39.06
European Championships Zürich, Switzerland 7th (semis) 200 m 20.73
— 4 × 100 m relay DNF
2015 IAAF World Relays Nassau, Bahamas 3rd (heats) 4 × 100 m relay 38.84
Military World Games Mungyeong, South Korea 1st 200 m 20.64
4th 4 × 100 m relay 39.64
2016 Olympic Games Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 49th (h) 200 m 20.65
2017 IAAF World Relays Nassau, Bahamas – 4 × 100 m relay DQ
2018 Mediterranean Games Tarragona, Spain 2nd 200 m 20.77
1st 4 × 100 m relay 38.49
European Championships Berlin, Germany 6th 200 m 20.13
– 4 × 100 m relay DQ
2019 World Relays Yokohama, Japan 3rd (h) 4 × 100 m relay 38.291
World Championships Doha, Qatar 21st (sf) 200 m 20.73
2021 World Relays Chorzów, Poland 1st 4 × 100 m relay 39.21
Olympic Games Tokyo, Japan 16th (sf) 200 m 20.43
1st 4 × 100 m relay 37.50 NR
2022 World Championships Eugene, United States 30th (h) 200 m 20.63
10th (h) 4 × 100 m relay 38.74
European Championships Munich, Germany 13th (sf) 200 m 20.48
2023 World Championships Budapest, Hungary 23rd (h) 200 m 20.49
2024 European Championships Rome, Italy 5th 200 m 20.59
Olympic Games Paris, France 9th (sf) 200 m 20.37
5th (h) 4 × 100 m relay 38.07
2025 World Relays Guangzhou, China 5th 4 × 100 m relay 38.20
World Championships Tokyo, Japan 25th (h) 200 m 20.43
11th (h) 4 × 100 m relay 38.52
2026 European Championships Birmingham, United Kingdom 3rd 200 m 20.26
– 4 × 100 m relay DQ

1Did not finish in the final

National titles

Desalu won six national championships at individual senior level.[15][16]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "DESALU Eseosa Fostine". Paris 2024 Olympics. International Olympic Committee. Retrieved 8 August 2024.
  2. ↑ "Olympics: Italy win men's 4x100m relay". ANSA English. 6 August 2021. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
  3. ↑ "Eseosa Desalu". FIDAL. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
  4. ↑ "Eseosa Desalu". IAAF. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
  5. ↑ Peters, Lionel; Magnusson, Tomas. "WORLD JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS WJC - 2012 Barcelona ESP Jul 10-15". WORLD JUNIOR ATHLETICS HISTORY ("WJAH"). Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 13 June 2015.
  6. 1 2 "22nd European Athletics Junior Championships, Stadio Raul Guidobaldi". European Athletics. Archived from the original on 3 October 2015. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
  7. ↑ "5th European Athletics Team Championships". European Athletics. Archived from the original on 2 February 2015. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
  8. ↑ "Track & Field". Korea2015MWG. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
  9. ↑ "경기 결과 남자 4 x 100m 릴레이 레이스 결승" (in Korean). Korea2015MWG. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
  10. ↑ "Program 2021". brussels.diamondleague.com. Archived from the original on 2 September 2022. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
  11. ↑ Giuffrida, Angela (6 August 2021). "'Italy's fairytale': men's 4x100m gold continues summer of success". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 14 August 2026.
  12. ↑ "Men's 200m Results - European Athletics Championships 2026 | Watch Athletics". www.watchathletics.com. Retrieved 14 August 2026.
  13. ↑ "Athletics - Final Results - Men's 4 x 100m Relay". Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Archived from the original on 5 August 2021. Retrieved 6 August 2021. - Current holder
  14. ↑ "Eseosa Desalu". European Athletics. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
  15. ↑ "TUTTI I CAMPIONI ITALIANI 1906-2021" (PDF). sportolimpico.it. 1 January 2021. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
  16. ↑ "Assoluti: altri 4 azzurri allo standard olimpico" (in Italian). fidal.it. 27 June 2021. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
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