Miltos (Miltiades) Tentoglou won another gold medal in the 2024 Paris Olympics long jump on Tuesday. He had also won gold in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
With his remarkable win, Miltos Tentoglou is the first Greek athlete to win a gold medal in two consecutive Olympics.
Ιn his first attempt in the final, he jumped only 8.27 meters, but he cleared 8.48 meters on the second try, jumping farther than all other contenders. His third jump was 8.25 meters while the fourth was 8.36 meters.
It was his second effort that made him an Olympic champion for the second time, leaving behind Jamaican Wayne Pinnock and Italian Mattia Furlani in second and third place, respectively.
Surely, all Greeks must have been proud to see the Greek flag raised at the Paris Olympics once again.
On Sunday, Tentoglou easily passed the qualification round with a single jump of 8.32 meters in his first attempt, and he then passed the limit set at 8.15 meters, qualifying for the men’s long jump final. Tentoglou had confidently stated he was ready for a medal on Tuesday.
“If the weather favors 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 favorable, then I will be able to set a record,” he said on public television ERT.
The 26-year-old athlete, born March 18, 1998 in Thessaloniki, ranks 14th of all time in the long jump. He has won first place in all major World and European championships, with a total of 11 gold medals.
Late start for winning gold in the Olympics
Until the age of 15, the Olympic medalist had no experience in track and field whatsoever. However, he won the gold medal for Greece in the long jump at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics (held in 2021 due to the Covid pandemic) and the gold medal at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest.
After winning the gold medal in the Tokyo Olympics, Tentoglou became the World Indoor champion, jumping the current Greek indoor record of 8.55 meters. This places him 6th on the respective world all-time list.
He was also the silver medal winner at the outdoor World Championships. He is a six-time European champion, winning a record three consecutive outdoor titles in 2018, 2022, and 2024 and a record three successive men’s indoor titles between 2019 and 2023.
The following year, he was the U20 champion, and in 2019, he was European U23 champion. In 2022, Tentoglou was the 2022 Diamond League long jump champion. In Greece, he is the indoor record holder and has won 10 national long jump titles.