The focus of attention at the Balkan Championships in Volos, Greece this weekend will be on the men’s long jump featuring Greece’s reigning Olympic and European champion Miltiadis Tentoglou.
Both days of the Balkan Championships will be streamed live on the European Athletics website (geoblocked in Greece) and will be accompanied by English-language commentary.
Tentoglou will renew his burgeoning rivalry with Bulgaria’s Bozhidar Saraboyukov who won the Balkan indoor title this February with 8.42m, just three centimetres shy of his lifetime best and outright Bulgarian record, defeating Tentoglou in the process.
Saraboyukov has duly extended his head-to-head record to 4-2 over Tentoglou in 2026 although only centimetres separated the leading protagonists in their last clash in Rome. On that occasion, Saraboyukov was the victor with 8.26m ahead of Tentoglou’s 8.24m.
The long jump field also includes the rapidly improving 19-year-old European U20 bronze medallist Luka Boskovic from Serbia who improved to 8.14m earlier this month.
Stefanidi continues her comeback
The Greek team for the Balkan Championships also includes 2016 Olympic champion Aikaterini Stefanidi who will be wearing the Greek vest for the first time since returning from maternity leave.
Stefanidi, who has won medals at the last five European Athletics Championships, has been making incremental improvements throughout the season in her comeback season and recently cleared a season’s best of 4.42m on the road to Birmingham 2026.
There will be high hopes of a Greek 1-2 in the women’s pole vault with Stefanidi joined by her younger compatriot Ariadni Adamopoulou who has improved to 4.52m, a mark which she set to win the Balkan Indoor Championships.
2022 European champion Elina Tzengko hasn’t found her very best form so far this year but the 23-year-old still begins at the favourite for her third Balkan title. She won last year when the championships were also held on home soil in Volos with 62.83m.
But one athlete who is in fine form is Montenegro’s 2022 European silver medallist Marija Vukovic who, at the age of 34, has improved her national record to 1.98m in the high jump. Incidentally, her previous national record of 1.97m was set in winning the 2021 Balkan Championships.
The women’s long jump will be another of the standout events of the weekend featuring reigning champion Alina Rotaru-Kottmann and her Romanian teammate Ramona Elena Verman, the reigning European U23 champion, along with Serbia’s Milica Gardasevic.
There will also be high hopes for Romania in the men’s shot put which features European indoor champion Andrei Toader as well as in the men’s discus with Alin Alexandru Firfirica, both of whom won gold at the 2025 Balkan Championships in their respective events.
European U23 champion Iosif Kesidis will be looking to continue his ascent into the senior ranks with victory in the men's hammer while the women's hammer includes an interesting cast of throwers including Azerbaijan's 2016 European bronze medallist Hanna Skydan who is on the comeback from maternity leave as well as Albanian veteran Yipsi Moreno who won three world titles for Cuba between 2001 and 2005.
Emmanouilidou targeting a sprint treble
Greece’s Polyniki Emmanouilidou won two gold medals last year and she is targeting a trio of titles in Volos this year.
Emmanouilidou will defend her 200m and 4x100m titles and will face strong opposition in the 100m from Isabel Posch who recently broke the long-standing Austrian record with a 11.10 clocking. The line-up also includes reigning European U18 100m champion Radina Velichkova from Bulgaria.
In the men’s 100m, Balkan indoor 60m champion Hristo Iliev will be looking to emulate this success outdoors over the longer distance against a field including Austrian record-holder Markus Fuchs and Türkiye’s Kayhan Ozer.
Other names to watch out for on the track include 2019 European indoor 60m hurdles champion Milan Trajkovic from Cyprus in the 110m hurdles, 2023 European U23 champion Izmail Nezir from Türkiye in the men’s 400m hurdles and 2023 European indoor 3000m bronze medallist Elzan Bibic from Serbia in the 3000m.
Türkiye will also be fielding a strong team in the men’s 4x400m. Their quartet could also include Kuybilay Encu who recently set a national record of 45.30 in the 400m and will be racing in the individual 400m.