Solid start for Greeks in Doha
Nikoleta Kyriakopoulou, Ekaterini Stefanidi, and Miltiadis Tentoglou all qualified for their event finals on day one at the World Athletics Championships in Qatar.
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In the women’s pole vault, both Nikoleta Kyriakopoulou and Ekaterini Stefanidi cleared 4.60 metres to qualify for the final. A total of 17 out of 32 women qualified for the final. Both Greeks have won medals at the World Championships in the past, as Kyriakopoulou took bronze in 2015, and Stefanidi won gold in 2017 (and therefore is the defending champion). The final will take place on Sunday.
In the men’s long jump, Miltiadis Tentoglou was nearly eliminated in qualifying. Fortunately for him, he jumped 8.00 metres on his final attempt. This was enough to give him a seventh place finish in qualifying, making him one of 12 athletes (out of 27 total in qualifying) to reach the final, which will take place on Saturday. Tentoglou won gold at the 2018 European Championships and at the 2019 European Indoor Championships, and the 21-year-old is now looking for his first World Championships medal at the senior level.
In other events, Stamatia Scarvelis failed to qualify for the final in the women’s hammer throw. Scarvelis finished 17th out of 30 athletes, with only the top 12 making it to the final. Her best throw of the day was 69.65 metres. The women’s marathon is underway, as it began at midnight local time. Greece’s Gloria Privileggio is taking part in it.
Saturday will be another busy day for the Greeks in Doha. In addition to Tentoglou’s final, Konstantinos Filippidis and Emmanouil Karalis will take part in the qualifying of the men’s pole vault. Angeliki Makri will race in the women’s 50 km walk, while Alexandros Papamichail will do the same in the men’s version of that event.
