Greek Olympic gold medalist Miltiadis (Miltos) Tentoglou took first place in the Diamond League. Above: Tentoglou in Budapest who secured the gold with a jump of 8.52 meters. Credit: Eric Van Leeuwen GFDL

Greek Olympic long jump champion Miltiadis (Miltos) Tentoglou took first place in a Diamond League competition and qualified for the final in Brussels.

The two-time Olympic gold medalist from Paris and Tokyo initially struggled due to wind currents, resulting in an invalid jump on his first attempt, but he gradually found his stride and climbed to first place.

After his first attempt, Tentoglou’s second jump was 7.61 meters. With his fifth jump of 7.97 meters he climbed to third place and with his last jump of 8.06 meters he came first.

The first place not only secured him victory in the competition, but also qualification for the final of the series in Brussels, which will take place on September 13 and 14. The $10,000 prize for first place came as a natural reward for an outstanding performance.

Much is expected of Tentoglou, who was also the Diamond League long jump champion in 2022.

Jamaican Wayne Pinnock with 8.01 meters and Swiss Simon Ehammer with 7.99 meters followed Tentoglou in the rankings, but ultimately did not prove to be a serious threat. With a lead of 15 points, the Greek athlete is at the top of the rankings and is ready to claim the title of champion in Brussels.

Greek Olympic gold medalist Tentoglou and his coach

With his personal best of 8.65 meters, Tentoglou is the third best European long jumper of all time. But what sets the Greek Olympic champion apart from other long jumpers of his age?

Georgi Pomaski, the coach of the Greek gold medalist, has the answer: “He is an athlete who is completely focused on everything he does. He also has complete control over his movements. So when he sets his mind on something, he achieves the maximum of his performance,” Pomaski said in a Katherine newspaper interview prior to the Olympic Games in Paris.

The experienced coach analyzed his athlete’s performance in Lausanne on the official webpage of the Greek Athletics Federation (SEGAS) and said:

“It was the famous Miltos! Whatever he has to do, he will do it. If you look at his competition in Lausanne, he did three times what he had to do. On the third jump he did what he had to do to get to eighth place, on the fifth he did what he had to do to get to third place and on the sixth jump he did what he had to do to take the win.”

On August 2, 2021, when Tentoglou won his first gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics, Pomaski sat on the coach’s bench and watched Miltos jump 8.45 meters. He is the man who stood by the Greek champion in all his great achievements in long jump competitions.

The best Greek jumper has been undefeated in European competitions since 2018 and is on the “gold” list of long jumpers who have won gold three times. The Greek champion has remained undefeated in 34 consecutive events, proving once again that he is currently the best long jumper in the world.