Eseosa Fostine "Fausto" Desalu (born 19 February 1994) is an Italian sprinter who specialises in the

200 metres The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slightl ...

winning a silver medal in that event at the

2018 Mediterranean Games The 2018 Mediterranean Games ( es, Juegos Mediterráneos de 2018), officially known as the XVIII Mediterranean Games ( es, XVIII Juegos Mediterráneos) and commonly known as Tarragona 2018, was an international multi-sport event held from 22 Jun ...

and a gold medal in the 4×100 m relay at the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

. He was the 200 metres gold medallist at the

2015 Military World Games The 2015 Military World Games ( ko, 2015년 세계 군인 체육 대회, Icheon sip-o nyeon segye gun-in cheyuk daehoe, 2015 World Military Sports Festival), officially known as the 6th CISM Military World Games ( ko, 제6회 세계 군인 체육 ...

. He holds a best of 20.13 seconds for the distance, set in 2018.

Biography

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

n descent, he acquired Italian citizenship in 2012, at 18 years old as he was born in

Casalmaggiore Casalmaggiore ( Casalasco-Viadanese: ) is a ''comune'' in the province of Cremona, Lombardy, Italy, located across the Po River. It was the birthplace of Italian composers Ignazio Donati and Andrea Zani. It became worldwide famous thanks to its ...

, Italy, to Nigerian parents. Desalu originally focused on

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

in his youth. However, he began to take up track and field around 2008, initially focusing on the

sprint hurdles Hurdling is the act of jumping over an obstacle at a high speed or in a sprint. In the early 19th century, hurdlers ran at and jumped over each hurdle (sometimes known as 'burgles'), landing on both feet and checking their forward motion. Today, ...

. His speed was better than his technique and he eventually focused on the 200 m instead. He gained full Italian citizenship in 2012. A member of

Gruppi Sportivi Fiamme Gialle The Gruppi Sportivi Fiamme Gialle is the sport section of the Italian police force, Guardia di Finanza. The club's activity is carried out in the following twelve sports disciplines: sport of athletics, athletics, Swimming (sport), swimming, judo, ...

– the sports club of Italy's fiscal police force – he made his international debut at the

2012 World Junior Championships in Athletics The 2012 World Junior Championships in Athletics was an international athletics competition for athletes qualifying as juniors (born 1993 or later) which was held at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, on 10–15 ...

. However, he failed to progress beyond the heats. He also ran with the 4×100 metres relay team, but they were also eliminated in the heats stage. Desalu's first international medal came at the

2013 European Athletics Junior Championships The 2013 European Athletics Junior Championships was the 22nd edition of the biennial athletics competition between European athletes in under twenty. It was held in Rieti, Italy from 18 to 21 July. The medal table was topped by Great Britain with ...

, where he was a relay bronze medallist on home turf in

Rieti Rieti (; lat, Reate, Sabino: ) is a town and ''comune'' in Lazio, central Italy, with a population of 47,700. It is the administrative seat of the province of Rieti and see of the diocese of Rieti, as well as the modern capital of the Sabina re ...

, 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.22nd European Athletics Junior Championships, Stadio Raul Guidobaldi
. European Athletics. Retrieved on 2015-10-11. His first senior medal followed at the

2014 European Team Championships The fifth European Athletics Team Championships took place on 21 and 22 June 2014. Calendar Super League Place: Eintracht-Stadion, Braunschweig, Germany Participating countries * * * * * * * * * * * * Men's events Women' ...

, where he was part of the bronze medal-winning relay quartet alongside Massimiliano Ferraro,

Diego Marani Diego Marani (born 1959) is an Italian novelist and European civil servant. Biography Born in Tresigallo, Marani attended the Liceo Ginnasio Ariosto in Ferrara till 1978 and graduated in interpretation and translation from the ''Scuola superior ...

, and Delmas Obou. He was selected both individually and for the relay for Italy at the

2014 European Athletics Championships The 2014 European Athletics Championships was held in Zürich, Switzerland, between 12 and 17 August 2014. It was the first time that Switzerland had hosted the European Athletics Championships since 1954. Great Britain headed the medal table, w ...

. 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 Fabio Cerutti (born 26 September 1985 in Turin) is an Italian sprinter who specializes in the 100 metres. Biography He finished sixth in 60 metres at the 2007 European Indoor Championships. He also competed at the 2008 World Indoor Champions ...

, Marani and Obou (although the Italians failed to finish). Desalu had his first appearance at global senior level at the

2015 IAAF World Relays The 2015 IAAF World Relays was the second edition of the biennial, global track and field relay competition between nations. As in the previous year, it was held in May in Nassau, Bahamas. Apart from contesting for the Golden Baton for the best t ...

, though the regrouped European Championships team did not make it past the heats. At the

he won the 200 m gold medal, a tenth of a second ahead of runner-up

Serhiy Smelyk Serhiy Volodymyrovych Smelyk or Serhii Volodymyrovych Smelyk ( uk, Сергій Володимирович Смелик; born 19 April 1987 in Krasnodon) is a Ukrainian sprinter. He won the bronze medal in the 200 metres at the 2014 European ...

. He came close to a second medal at the games in the relay, placing fourth with Cerutti, Obou and

Matteo Galvan Matteo Galvan (born 24 August 1988) is an Italian sprinter who specializes in the 200 and 400 metres. His career highlight so far is the 2009 European Indoor Championships, where he placed sixth in the 400 metres and won a gold medal in the rel ...

. In

La Chaux-de-Fonds La Chaux-de-Fonds () is a Swiss city in the canton of Neuchâtel. It is located in the Jura mountains at an altitude of 1000 m, a few kilometers south of the French border. After Geneva, Lausanne and Fribourg, it is the fourth largest city loc ...

, he runs in 20.36 on 15 August 2020, best European performance of the year on 200 m. On 19 August, he improves at 20.35 (+1.3) at Bregyó Athletic Center,

Székesfehérvár Székesfehérvár (; german: Stuhlweißenburg ), known colloquially as Fehérvár ("white castle"), is a city in central Hungary, and the country's ninth-largest city. It is the regional capital of Central Transdanubia, and the centre of Fejér ...

. On 4 September 2020, he becomes the first Italian to win a 200 m race event of the

Diamond League The Diamond League is an annual series of elite track and field athletic competitions comprising fourteen of the best invitational athletics meetings. The series sits in the top tier of the World Athletics (formerly known as the IAAF) one-day mee ...

during

Memorial Van Damme The Memorial Van Damme is an annual athletics event at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels, Belgium, that takes place in late August or early September. Previously one of the IAAF Golden League events, it is now the final event of the Diamond L ...

in 20.39.

Statistics

National records

* 4×100 m relay: 37.50 (

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

, 6 August 2021), he ran third leg in the team with

Lorenzo Patta Lorenzo Patta (born 23 May 2000) is an Italian sprinter who won a gold medal in 4×100 m relay at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. On 13 May 2021, running in Savona in 10.13, he established the 7th Italian all-time performance on 1 ...

Marcell Jacobs Lamont Marcell Jacobs Jr. (born 26 September 1994) is an Italian track and field sprinter and former long jumper. He is the 2020 Olympic 100 metres champion, the 2022 60 metres world champion, the 2022 European 100 metres champion, and a memb ...

Filippo Tortu Filippo Tortu (born 15 June 1998) is an Italian sprinter with a personal best in the 100 meters of 9.99, the first Italian in history to break the 10 seconds barrier. He won the gold medal in 100 metres at the 2017 European U20 Championships a ...

Personal bests

60 metres 60 metres, or 60-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field. It is a championship event for indoor championships, normally dominated by the best outdoor 100 metres runners. At outdoor venues it is a rare distance, at least for senior at ...

– 6.76 seconds (2015) *

100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been conteste ...

– 10.21 seconds (2022) *

– 20.13 seconds (2018) *

110 metres hurdles The 110 metres hurdles, or 110-metre hurdles, is a hurdling track and field event for men. It is included in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympic Games. The female counterpart is the 100 metres hurdles. As part of a racing event, ten hur ...

– 14.20 seconds (2010) *

60 metres hurdles 60 metres hurdles is a distance in hurdling which is generally run in indoor competitions. It is equivalent with the first 5 hurdles of a standard outdoor hurdle race. The current women's and men's world records are 7.68 seconds ( Susanna K ...

– 7.86 seconds (2011) *All information from

European Athletics The European Athletic Association (more commonly known as European Athletics) is the governing body for athletics in Europe. It is one of the six Area Associations of the world's athletics governing body World Athletics. European Athletics has 51 ...

For reference: *split time of 4×100m relay - 9.170 (third leg) (2021)

Achievements

¹Did not finish in the final

National titles

Desalu won three national championships at individual

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

level. *

Italian Athletics Championships The Italian Athletics Championships ( it, Campionati italiani assoluti di atletica leggera) are the national championships in athletics, organised every year by the Federazione Italiana di Atletica Leggera. The first edition, four races only, wa ...

**200 m: 2016, 2017, 2021 (3)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Desalu, Eseosa Living people 1994 births People from Casalmaggiore Italian male sprinters Athletics competitors of Fiamme Gialle Italian people of Nigerian descent Italian sportspeople of African descent Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes of Italy Athletes (track and field) at the 2018 Mediterranean Games Mediterranean Games silver medalists for Italy Mediterranean Games medalists in athletics World Athletics Championships athletes for Italy Italian Athletics Championships winners Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Italy Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Sportspeople from the Province of Cremona