Born in Milan to a Sardinian father, former runner Salvino, and a Lombard mother, Paola Confalonieri, he began to play sports at the age of eight years, dividing his time between track and field and basketball.
In 2010 and 2011, he won the title of fastest runner in Milan while competing in the categories prima media and seconda media (first and second years of middle school). He then started to dedicate himself entirely to track and field, coached by his father. In 2013, he won the 80 meters in the Italian championships in Jesolo (category cadetto) with a time of 9.09.
He finished third at the 2014 trials for the European Youth Olympic Games although he did not qualify. He did however qualify for the 200 meters, but in the preliminary race for the Youth Olympics he fell at the finish line; he broke both arms and as a result was not able to compete in the finals. In 2015, he broke the Italian youth record in the 100 meters with a time of 10.33, as well as in the 200 meters with a time of 20.92.
In 2016, he broke the Italian junior record of 100 meters in Savona, twice obtaining a time of 10.24; this record had been unbeaten for 34 years, and was held by Pierfrancesco Pavoni who ran the distance in 10.25 at the 1982 European Championships. A month later, he landed his first Italian title in Rieti, winning the final of 100 meters in 10.32. He took part in the European Championships in Amsterdam, where he qualified for the semifinals by winning with a time of 10.19, which was a new Italian junior record. He failed, however, to reach the final by 0.03 seconds. He also ran the final leg of 4×100 relay, landing a 5th place. He participated at the World U20 Championships in Bydgoszcz, where he won the silver medal in 100 meters with 10.24, behind the American Noah Lyles (10.17). In the same championship he participated in the 4×100 relay where they finished 7th.
At the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics, Tortu competed in the men's 100m. He reached the semi-final but did not qualify for the finals.[2] Tortu also ran the anchor leg in the 4×100 relay final, coming from behind to pip the GB team by one-hundredth of a second, running his leg with only 8.845 seconds and winning a historic gold.[3]
National records
100 metres: 9.99 (+0.2 m/s; Madrid, 22 June 2018) - former Italian record[4]
^"SPRINT RECORDS FALL IN MADRID". iaaf.org. Archived from the original on 23 June 2018. Retrieved 23 June 2018. ...the European junior champion clocked 9.99 to beat the long-standing Italian record of 10.01 set by Pietro Mennea back in 1979, 19 years before Tortu was born.
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