Tentoglou crowned European champion
Miltiadis Tentoglou made history in Glasgow, smashing the Greek national record and registering the biggest jump in the world for 2019, as the 20-year-old won gold at the European Indoor Athletics Championships.
The Greek, who was the overwhelming favorite to win before the competition started, began the day with a foul. He then jumped 8.12 metres to take the lead, only for Sweden’s Thobias Nilsson Montler to jump 8.17 metres to pass him. Tentoglou then had another foul, and with his fourth attempt came close to the lead but his jump of 8.16 metres was not enough.
However, Tentoglou’s fifth jump was more than enough for the lead, as the youngster from Grevena jumped a massive 8.38 metres. This is the world-leading jump for 2019, and a new Greek national indoor record. It should be noted that the previous national indoor record was 8.23 metres, shared by both Tentoglou and Louis Tsatoumas. The previous world-leading jump for 2019 was 8.30 metres (Tentoglou’s 8.23 was second in the world).
Having already secured the gold medal, Tentoglou opted to not use his sixth jump. Silver went to Nilsson Montler, and bronze went to Serbia’s Strahinja Jovancevic. This is Tentoglou’s second consecutive gold medal in a major competition, as he also won gold at last year’s European Championships in Berlin.
In the men’s 60 metres hurdles semifinals, Konstantinos Douvalidis ran a season-best time of 7.66 seconds to qualify for the final. He finished third in his semifinal and fifth overall. This will be his first final in a major competition since 2015. The final will take place in tonight’s evening session. The women’s pole vault final will also be held in tonight’s evening session, with Nikoleta Kyriakopoulou and defending champion Ekaterini Stefanidi competing.
