With the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham exactly one month away, reigning European and Olympic champion Miltiadis Tentoglou from Greece produced the second longest jump of his illustrious career in the Monaco Diamond League on Friday (10) evening.
Tentoglou was already leading the competition by virtue of a world lead of 8.52m in the second round but the in-form Greek star kept something in reserve for the sixth round, breaking Ivan Pedroso’s 31-year-old meeting record with 8.61m for a resounding victory.
This was the second longest mark that Tentoglou has ever produced, only bettered by his lifetime best of 8.65m from the 2024 European Athletics Championships in Rome where he won his third successive title.
And after an indifferent 2025 campaign which was marred by both illness and injury, Tentoglou is back in contention for a fourth successive long jump title in Birmingham next month. This would emulate Heike Drechsler who won four European titles in the women’s long jump between 1986 and 1998.
Tentoglou handily defeated all of his principal European rivals in Monaco tonight. Jamaica’s Wayne Pinnock and Cuban teenager Jorge Hodelin rounded out the top three with 8.39m and 8.38m respectively with Switzerland's Simon Ehammer and Bulgaria’s Bozhidar Saraboyukov finishing fourth and fifth with 8.36m and 8.32m respectively.
"When you jump 8.50m and then you jump 8.60m - that is just crazy. I do not think this has happened many times in history. I know I am in really good shape and to be honest, I wanted a little bit more but it is a very good competition, very normal. The meeting record from Pedroso - that is the most important for me today.
"Last year, I was not healthy and could not perform. This season, I expect something close to 8.70m and I believe I can do it because I have many good competitions ahead of me," said Tentoglou.
World champion Mattia Furlani made a welcome return to competition after injury. Competing for the first time since late May when he was left the Egret Stadium in Xiamen on a stretcher, Furlani jumped 8.01m with his second attempt before retiring in the fifth round.
Another meeting record for Duplantis
Competing as an official resident of Monaco, Armand Duplantis delivered a meeting record of 6.07m in what could now be considered a home Diamond League for the world record-holder.
Duplantis added two centimetres to his meeting record with a first-time clearance at 6.07m before failing three times at a would-be world outdoor lead of 6.15m.
"The competition fulfilled my expectations, the crowd over-exceeded my expectations. It was maybe a little bit underwhelming in my own mind but I am trying to stay positive and trying to take only the positives away from it - that I still came with the win and the meeting record. I think there was some more to give," said Duplantis.
In the penultimate track event on the programme, reigning European 10,000m champion Dominic Lobalu from Switzerland was in winning form in the 5000m.
In a back-and-forth head-to-head in the home straight with Graham Blanks from the United States, Lobalu found an extra gear in the last 10 metres to take the victory in 12:52.54 to win by a mere 0.06.
"I fight every time, but finally, I got the win. My coach always tells me to not underestimate my opponents and just for the time to come. I just did not want to allow anybody to beat me in that last 50 metres," said Lobalu.
Ukraine's Oleh Doroshchuk also won the men's high jump with a 2.32m clearance before three attempts at a world leading height and lifetime best of 2.35m.
French 3000m record for Beaugrand
Cassandre Beaugrand demonstrated her remarkable versatility by breaking a 21-year-old French record in her first serious 3000m. On her Diamond League debut, the 2024 Olympic triathlon champion finished eighth in 8:32.86 to slash three seconds off the previous record of 8:35.41.
"Honestly, before the race everyone was talking about the French record but given that it's much shorter compared to the usual distances I run, it was not on my mind," she said.
This was the third French record that Beaugrand has set in 2026. She has also revised the French records in the 5000m (14:40.77) and 10km (30:52).
Jake Wightman finished second in the men's 1000 which was won by Kenya's Emmanuel Wanyonyi in a world record of 2:11.83. Wightman was still on Wanyonyi's shoulder as they rounded into the home straight and the 2022 world 1500m champion was also rewarded with a lifetime best of 2:12.77.
Photos courtesy of James Rhodes