Andrew Howe

Andrew Howe (born 12 May 1985) is an American-born Italian athlete who specializes in the long jump and sprinting.

In 1992, Howe moved to Rieti, Italy with his mother after she divorced Howe Sr and remarried Italian Ugo Besozzi.

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.

He won this event as well as the 200 metres at the 2004 World Junior Championships.

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.

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.

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.

A combination of injuries ruled him out for most of the 2008 and 2009 seasons.

Following this, his 2008 season was blighted by a shoulder injury and then hamstring problems, 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 2010 and became the Italian champion, representing his country at the 2010 European Athletics Championships.

He returned to action in July 2010 with a win in the long jump at the Italian Athletics Championships.

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.

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.

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).

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.

Howe won seven national championships at individual senior level.