Long-jumper Miltiadis Tentoglou added another major title to his list, winning gold at the World Indoor Championships on his 24th birthday.
Tentoglou delivered a stunning performance at the World Indoor Championships as the Olympic long jump champion saw off his opponents with ease in Belgrade on Friday (March 18).
He jumped an indoor personal-best of 8.55 meters in the second round to establish an insurmountable lead. The jump is a world-leading one this year and the 6th best indoors of all-time; the world indoors record, 8.79 meters, is held by Carl Lewis since January 1984.
The fact that the championships took place in Belgrade, allowed several Tentoglou fans from his northern Greek home town of Grevena, including his grandfather, to make the 7-8 hour drive with a chartered bus.
Tentoglou also won gold in last year’s Tokyo Olympics, the 2018 European (outdoor) Championships and the 2019 and 2021 European Indoors.
“A national indoor record of 8.55m is beyond my expectation for tonight,” Tentóglou said. “The first attempt [a foul] also was really good, but there was some misunderstanding with this new system. After that I was really angry. It was too long to wait from one to another attempt due to the huge number of participants in our final.
“The only one gold medal I still miss in my own collection is from the summer world championships. I will do all possible and even impossible things to get it this summer. I have never been in the USA and I very excited to visit this country and to jump at the World Championships in Oregon.
“I also hope to set the national outdoor record this year. It’s still 8.66m from Luis Tsatumas. So, that is nearest goal.”
Tentoglou has now won an astonishing five gold long jump medals at major championships.
