Miltos Tentoglou secured another gold medal in the long jump at the 2024 Paris Olympics on Tuesday, adding to his previous gold from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. This achievement makes Tentoglou the first Greek athlete to win gold in two consecutive Olympics. He is the Greek indoor record holder and has won 10 national long jump titles.
In the final, Tentoglou’s initial jump reached 8.27 meters, but he soared to 8.48 meters on his second attempt, surpassing all competitors. His subsequent jumps were 8.25 meters and 8.36 meters. It was his second leap that solidified his position as an Olympic champion once more, leaving Jamaican Wayne Pinnock and Italian Mattia Furlani to claim silver and bronze, respectively.
Tentoglou had an impressive performance in the qualification round on Sunday, easily advancing with a single jump of 8.32 meters on his first try, well beyond the 8.15-meter limit. Confidently, he predicted his medal win for Tuesday.
“If the weather favours me even a little, I will do better in the final. If it blows in the opposite direction, I don’t know how easy it is to break a record. I believe that if the conditions are favourable, then I will be able to set a record,” he said on public television ERT.
26-year-old Tentoglou is currently ranked 14th all-time in the long jump having dominated major World and European championships, earning a total of 11 gold medals. Interestingly, Tentoglou had no track and field experience until he was 15. Yet, he went on to win the gold medal in the long jump at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics (held in 2021 due to the Covid pandemic) and at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest.
After his triumph at the Tokyo Olympics, Tentoglou became the World Indoor champion, setting a Greek indoor record with an 8.55-meter jump, placing him 6th on the world all-time list. He also earned a silver medal at the outdoor World Championships and is a six-time European champion, achieving a record three consecutive outdoor titles in 2018, 2022, and 2024, and three successive men’s indoor titles from 2019 to 2023.
The Thessalonikian athlete was also the U20 champion in 2018 and the European U23 champion in 2019 while in 2022, he won the Diamond League long jump championship.
