Miltos Tendoglou has regained his world crown in the long jump for 2023, with the Greek gold Olympic champion stunning the crowd at the indoor meet at Lievin in France, just a few hours after the cancellation of his jump of 8.40m by the World Athletics governing body, due to his… shoes.
Under the guidance of coach George Pomaski, Tendoglou came in “hot” and started his jumps at 8.32m, then in the second he landed at 8.37m. In his third jump, the Olympic champion made 8.34m, while his fourth attempt was enough to give him the top spot, with a jump of 8.41m.
The Greek athlete discarded his other two attempts, leaving Sweden’s Thobias Montler (8.06m) in second place and the American Marquis Dendy in third with 7.94m.
Tendoglou’s performance is his second best in the indoor event, after the 8.55m he achieved last year in Belgrade.
A day earlier, the World Athletics body had cancelled Miltos Tendoglou’s jump of 8.40m in the long jump in an earlier meet in Torun, Poland, a week earlier.
The decision by World Athletics, was based on the grounds that the shoes worn by the Tokyo Olympic gold medallist were banned in long jump competitions. Tendoglou wore the “Black Panther” version of Adidas’ specially designed long jump shoes, which were released as a limited edition. According to World Athletics, this model is prohibited to be used in long jump competitions. However, no one had checked Tendoglou’s shoes before he started his attempts at the indoor track and field meeting in Torun.
