Andrew Howe (born 12 May 1985) is an American-born Italian athlete who specializes in the long jump and sprinting. He won this event as well as the 200 metres at the 2004 World Junior Championships. He was successful at senior level at a young age, winning a long jump bronze at the 2006 IAAF World Indoor Championships before becoming the European Champion later that year. In 2007 he became the European Indoor Champion and won the silver medal at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics.

Andrew Howe
Howe in 2007 at 22.
Personal information
National teamItaly: 17 caps (2005-2020)
Born (1985-05-12) May 12, 1985 (age 38)
Los Angeles, United States
Height1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)
Weight73 kg (161 lb)
Sport
SportAthletics
Event(s)Sprint
Long jump
ClubC.S. Aeronautica Militare
Coached by
Achievements and titles
Personal bests
  • 100 m: 10.27 (2006)
  • 200 m: 20.28 (2004)
  • 400 m: 45.70 (2011)
  • Long jump: 8.47 m (2007)
Medal record
Men's athletics
Representing  Italy
Senior level
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
World Championships 0 1 0
World Indoor Championships 0 0 1
European Championships 1 0 0
European Indoor Championships 1 0 0
Continental Cup 0 1 0
European Cup (Super League) 1 0 1
Total 3 2 2
World Championships
Silver medal – second place 2007 Osaka Long jump
World Indoor Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2006 Moscow Long jump
European Championships
Gold medal – first place 2006 Gothenburg Long jump
European Indoor Championships
Gold medal – first place 2007 Birmingham Long jump
Youth level
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
World U20 Championships 2 0 0
World U18 Championships 0 0 1
Gymnasiade 2 0 0
Total 4 0 1

A combination of injuries ruled him out for most of the 2008 and 2009 seasons. He returned to action in 2010 and became the Italian champion, representing his country at the 2010 European Athletics Championships.

Biography edit

 
Howe celebrating his silver medal at the 2007 World Athletics Championships.
 
Howe's mother René Felton coached her son from youth level to 2014.

Howe was born in Los Angeles, United States, to Andrew Howe Sr and René Felton, an American hurdler who is a former United States Junior College National Record in the 100 meter hurdles in Europe and continued participating in Athletics at the Master Level winning Silver Medal 2001 European Indoor Championships 60 Meter hurdles. In 1992, Howe moved to Rieti, Italy with his mother after she divorced Howe Sr and remarried Italian Ugo Besozzi.

Coached by his mother, his international breakthrough came with the double gold medal in the men's long jump and 200 Meters at 2004 IAAF Junior World Championship in Grosseto, Italy 2006 World Indoor Championships, where he finished third. Later the same year he won the gold medal at the European Championships.

In the 2007 European Athletics Indoor Championships, he won gold with a fifth round leap of 8.30, after trailing his Greek competitor, and eventual silver medalist, Loúis Tsátoumas in the first four jumps.

In the 2007 World Championships, he won the silver medal with a sixth jump of 8.47, achieving the Italian national record and his personal best. He was only surpassed by Irving Saladino at his last jump with 8.57 m. He brought the year to a close with a win at the 2007 IAAF World Athletics Final, becoming the first Italian to win at the competition and only the second to win an event at an IAAF season-end contest. He was given the first European Athletics Rising Star Award in recognition of his achievements that season.[5]

Following this, his 2008 season was blighted by a shoulder injury and then hamstring problems,[6] and he did not make it past the qualifiers of the long jump at the 2008 Summer Olympics. The next season held further physical problems for the Italian and surgery on his Achilles tendon ruled him out for the year.

He returned to action in July 2010 with a win in the long jump at the Italian Athletics Championships.[7] He attempted to defend his continental title at the 2010 European Athletics Championships, but his jump of 8.12 m brought him fifth place and Christian Reif succeeded him to the European title.[8] Nearing the end of the season, Howe ran in the 200 m at the Notturna di Milano – marking a return to an event in which he had competed sparely. In a return to form, he won the race and although he eased up in the final metres he recorded a time of 20.30 seconds – two hundredths away from his long-standing personal best.[9]

He completed his winter training in Qatar and at the University of California, Los Angeles. At the start of the outdoor season he ran a personal best and European-leading time of 45.70 seconds over 400 metres and then took a surprise win over 200 m at the Golden Gala in Rome with a run of 20.31 seconds (also a season's best for Europe).[10][11]

Italian Olympic gold medal sprinter Lamont Marcell Jacobs said that when he was growing up, Howe, who is also mixed-race and half-American, was his idol.[12]

National records edit

Achievements edit

Youth
Year Competition Venue Rank Event Performance Notes
2001 World Youth Championships   Debrecen 3rd Long jump 7.61 m
2002 World Junior Championships   Kingston 5th 4×100 m relay 39.86
2004 World Junior Championships   Grosseto 1st 200m 20.28 s (+0.1 m/s)
1st Long jump 8.11 m (+0.9 m/s)
Senior
Year Competition Venue Rank Event Performance Notes
2006 World Indoor Championships   Moscow 3rd Long jump 8.19 m
2006 European Championships   Gothenburg 1st Long jump 8.20 m
2007 European Indoor Championships   Birmingham 1st Long jump 8.30 m
2007 World Championships   Osaka 2nd Long jump 8.47 m
2010 European Championships   Barcelona 5th Long jump 8.12 m
2017 European Indoor Championships   Belgrade 10th (q) Long jump 7.71 m
2018 European Championships   Berlin 17th (sf) 200 m 20.78
2019 World Athletics Relays   Yokohama 4th 4×400 m relay 3:16.12 NR (heat)

National titles edit

Howe won seven national championships at individual senior level.[14][15]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "ANDREW HOWE LASCIA MAMMA RENE' E CAMBIA ALLENATORE" (in Italian). rietilife.com. 28 December 2014. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  2. ^ a b "Andrew Howe - Biography" (in Italian). fidal.it. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  3. ^ "Howe-Donato: la strana coppia si racconta" (in Italian). sport.sky.it. 14 June 2017. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  4. ^ "Atletica, Andrew Howe ci crede per Tokyo: obiettivo finale olimpica" (in Italian). npctv.it. 30 October 2021. Retrieved 25 April 2021. Nel suo sogno olimpico Andrew Howe ha deciso di affidarsi alla guida tecnica di Stefano Serranò, allenatore del gruppo sportivo Aereonautica Militare ed ex saltatore
  5. ^ Andrew Howe (ITA) wins Waterford Crystal European Athletics Male Rising Star Award Archived August 19, 2012, at the Wayback Machine. European Athletics (2007-09-27). Retrieved on 2011-05-30.
  6. ^ Arcoleo, Laura (2008-08-14). Andrew Howe: more hopes than certainties. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-09-11.
  7. ^ Sampaolo, Diego (2010-07-02). Di Martino tops 2.01m, Howe returns with 8.16m victory in Grosseto - Italian championships. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-09-11.
  8. ^ Remarkable Reif leaps to record Archived 2010-10-03 at the Wayback Machine. European Athletics. Retrieved on 2010-09-11.
  9. ^ Sampaolo, Diego (2010-09-10). Howe, Semenya, and Yenew highlight in Milan. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-09-10.
  10. ^ Italy’s long jumper Howe oozes confidence after rare 400m outing Archived May 13, 2011, at the Wayback Machine. European Athletics. Retrieved on 2011-05-30.
  11. ^ World leads for Abakumova, Idowu and Lavillenie in Rome, European leads for Lemaitre and Howe Archived August 19, 2012, at the Wayback Machine. European Athletics (2011-05-27). Retrieved on 2011-05-30.
  12. ^ McCarthy, Lauren (1 August 2021). "Who is Lamont Marcell Jacobs, Italy's first fastest man?". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 7 August 2021.
  13. ^ a b c "Record italiani assoluti maschili di atletica leggera al 29 luglio 2019" (in Italian). atleticalive.it. 30 July 2019. Retrieved 12 August 2019.
  14. ^ "TUTTI I CAMPIONI ITALIANI 1906-2014" (PDF). sportolimpico.it. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  15. ^ "ITALIAN INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS". gbrathletics.com. Retrieved 25 April 2021.

External links edit