Miltiadis Tentoglou overcame a stern challenge from Switzerland's Simon Ehammer to continue his near decade-long reign in the men’s long jump at the European Athletics Championships.
In difficult wind conditions, the Greek athlete drew on his vast experience and competitive mettle to win his fourth successive European title in Birmingham on Tuesday (11) evening with a mark of 8.44m into a strong headwind in the fourth round.
In summary
- Greece’s Miltiadis Tentoglou wins his fourth successive long jump title at the age of 28
- Tentoglou matches Germany’s Heike Drechsler by winning four long jump titles at the European Athletics Championships
- Bozhidar Sarâboyukov bounds out to 8.26m in the final round for bronze
After a somewhat under-par season by his extremely high standards last year, Miltiadis Tentoglou was back in prime form. He landed his fourth successive European title and his first major title since retaining his Olympic title in 2024, describing his win tonight as "one of my most precious."
In his first competition since equalling the Greek record with a world leading 8.66m at his national championships, Tentoglou looked in this vein of form on a blustery evening on the back straight in the Alexander Stadium. He set the standard with an opening round mark of 8.27m despite the impediment of a 1.4 m/s headwind and taking off 20 centimetres behind the board.
Simon Ehammer eclipsed Tentoglou’s lead in the second round with a mark of 8.29m against an even stronger headwind of 2.7 m/s but the Greek still had four jumps left to respond.
And in the fourth round, Tentoglou hit the board almost perfectly. After giving away at least 18 centimetres on his first three jumps, the reigning three-time champion gave away a miserly five centimetres away as he bounded out 8.44m against a significant headwind of 1.1 m/s to the delight of a large and vocal contingent of Greek fans who were sitting adjacent to the sandpit.
This fourth round jump extended Tentoglou’s near decade-long reign as European long jump champion. In doing so, the 28-year-old matches Heike Drechsler who won four successive women’s long jump titles between 1986 and 1998.
And while Tentoglou elected to pass his last two attempts, there was a dramatic denouement to the final. Reigning world indoor champion Gerson Baldé showed glimmers of that form by jumping 8.18m in the sixth round, his only eight metre-jump of the final, to temporarily displace European indoor champion Bozhidar Sarâboyukov in the bronze medal position.
But with one jump remaining, Sarâboyukov moved back into the medal fray with a clutch sixth round attempt of 8.26m, the first major outdoor medal of his developing career and a milestone which he celebrated with his trademark backflip celebration.
What they said...
Miltiadis Tentoglou (GRE)
"This was one of the hardest finals I have ever done. I am good in all conditions but this wind was so hard on us long jumpers. This was not just a regular 8.40m jump for me. It was big jump. So I appreciate it a lot. This is one of my most precious victories because it is also a complex season for me. This is the start of winning golds again."
Simon Ehammer (SUI)
"It's a medal at the European Championships, and a medal in a very stacked field of long jumpers, so after my injury in Monaco I would say it is a pretty good result. It was the goal, for sure, to fight for the gold. It was a good fight. My season has already topped everything I set out to do so a medal here is the cherry on top."