Miltiadis "Miltos" Tentoglou ( ; born 18 March 1998) is a

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

athlete, who is 14th in the all time lists, but one of the best in terms of achievements, as he is a double Olympic Champion with multiple World and European titles also to his name in a career which has brought him 11 gold medals. He won gold at the

2020 Tokyo Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

2024 Paris Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

and the

2023 World Athletics Championships The 2023 World Athletics Championships (), the nineteenth edition of the World Athletics Championships, were held from 19 to 27 August 2023 at the National Athletics Centre (Budapest), National Athletics Centre, in Budapest, Hungary. The tourna ...

in Budapest. In 2022, Tentoglou became the World Indoor champion jumping the current Greek indoor record of 8.55 metres, which places him sixth best indoor on the world all-time list, and took silver at the outdoor World Championships. He is a six-time European champion, winning a record three consecutive outdoor titles in

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

and

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

and a record three successive men's indoor titles between

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

and

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

. He had been a silver medallist at the 2016 World Under-20 Championships and won gold at the 2017 European U20 and 2019 European U23 Championships. Tentoglou was also

2022 Diamond League The 2022 Diamond League was the thirteenth season of the Diamond League, an annual series of outdoor track and field meetings, organised by World Athletics. The competition was a revision to the top level sport of athletics, athletics series since ...

Champion at the event. He is the Greek indoor record holder, and has won 12 national long jump titles. He was named the Greek Male Athlete of the Year, for the years 2022 and 2023. He was also named the

BTA Best Balkan Athlete of the Year The BTA Best Balkan Athlete of the Year, Balkan Athlete of the Year, or simply Athlete of the Balkans () is an annual sports athlete of the year award. The winner of each year's award is announced by the Bulgarian News Agency, Bulgarian News Agenc ...

for 2024.

Early life

Tentoglou was born in

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...

on 18 March 1998. His paternal greatgrandfather was a

Greek refugee Greek refugees is a collective term used to refer to the more than one million Greek Orthodox natives of Asia Minor, Thrace and the Black Sea areas who fled during the Greek genocide (1914-1923) and Greece's later defeat in the Greco-Turkish War ( ...

from

Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

. He grew up in the town of

Grevena Grevena (, ''Grevená'' ; ) is a town and Communities and Municipalities of Greece, municipality in Western Macedonia, northern Greece, capital of the Grevena (regional unit), Grevena regional unit. The town's current population is 12,515 citizen ...

, where he spent his childhood and teenage years. Until 15, he had no experience in track and field. In his teenage years his hobby was

parkour Parkour () is an athletic Training#Physical training, training discipline or sport in which practitioners (called ''traceurs'') attempt to get from one point to another in the fastest and most efficient way possible, without assisting equipment ...

. He started athletics completely by accident at the age of 15, at the urging of the Greek athletics coach, Vangelis Papanikos, who had watched him doing parkour in the stadium bleachers at the Grevena stadium. Papanikos was the first person to recognise Tentoglou's natural talent and physical agility and became his first coach. In 2017, Tentoglou teamed up with recognised Greek-Bulgarian coach, Georgi Pomashki, who is his current coach.

Career

Tentoglou gained his first international experience at the age of 17, at the 2015 World Under-18 Championships in Athletics held in

Cali Santiago de Cali (), or Cali, is the capital of the Valle del Cauca department, and the most populous city in southwest Colombia, with 2,280,522 residents estimate by National Administrative Department of Statistics, DANE in 2023. The city span ...

, Colombia, where he placed fifth with a jump of 7.66 metres. In May 2016, he jumped 8.19 metres in

Kalamata Kalamata ( ) is the second most populous city of the Peloponnese peninsula in southern Greece after Patras, and the largest city of the Peloponnese (region), homonymous administrative region. As the capital and chief port of the Messenia regiona ...

to break the Greek national U20 record. Two months later, he won the silver medal at the World U20 Championships in

Bydgoszcz Bydgoszcz is a city in northern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Kuyavia. Straddling the confluence of the Vistula River and its bank (geography), left-bank tributary, the Brda (river), Brda, the strategic location of Byd ...

, Poland for a leap of 7.91 m, behind Cuban Maykel Massó (8.00 m). The following month, Tentoglou was one of the youngest members of Hellenic expedition at the

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, then part of the King ...

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

, where he was, however, eliminated in the qualifications (7.64 m). In June 2017, at the Greek Athletics Championships in

Patras Patras (; ; Katharevousa and ; ) is Greece's List of cities in Greece, third-largest city and the regional capital and largest city of Western Greece, in the northern Peloponnese, west of Athens. The city is built at the foot of Mount Panachaiko ...

, Tentoglou improved his national U20 record by landing at 8.30 metres. In July, he went on to claim a gold at the European U20 Championships held in

Grosseto Grosseto () is a city and a ''comune'' in the central Italian region of Tuscany, the capital of the province of Grosseto and the main city of the Maremma region. The city lies from the Tyrrhenian Sea, at the centre of an alluvial plain on the ...

, Italy, jumping 8.07 m. From that point, major titles kept piling up for Miltiadis, culminating in him winning the 2020 Summer Olympic crown in the Japan capital Tokyo, where he soared at 8.41 metres to win on countback over Cuba's Juan Miguel Echevarría, with Massó third at 8.21 m. He has won five consecutive European titles: at Berlin 2018, where he became the youngest Greek man to win a continental gold, at indoor Glasgow 2019, where he set a Greek indoor record, at indoor Toruń 2021, at Munich 2022, where he set a championship record in the process, and at indoor

Istanbul 2023 The 2023 European Athletics Indoor Championships was held from 2 to 5 March 2023 at the Ataköy Athletics Arena, Ataköy Arena in Istanbul, Turkey, the first time the event took place in this country although the venue did stage the 2012 IAAF Worl ...

, where he became the first man in history to claim three successive long jump titles at the European Indoors. Only Hans Baumgartner has also won three, but not straight, European indoor titles. In May 2021, at a meeting in

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

, Tentoglou landed at 8.60 metres, becoming the third-best European performer of all time, behind

Robert Emmiyan Robert Emmiyan (; born 15 February 1965) is a retired long jumper who represented the USSR and Armenia. He is the fourth best long jumper in history. His personal best jump of 8.86 metres, which he achieved in Tsaghkadzor in May 1987, is the cu ...

and compatriot

Louis Tsatoumas Louis Tsatoumas (, born 12 February 1982) is a Greek long jumper. Biography He won his first major senior medal in 2007 at the European Indoor Athletics Championships, where he claimed the silver medal ending in second place after the Italian ...

. At the 2022 World Indoor Championships held in

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

, Serbia, he improved his Greek indoor record with a jump of 8.55 metres to convincingly take the title. Tentoglou finished second at the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lane County, Oregon, United States. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie River (Oregon), McKenzie and Willamette River, Willamette rivers, ...

that year, however, with a leap of 8.32 m, behind China's Wang Jianan (8.36 m). In Glasgow, at the 2024 World Indoors Championships, Tentoglou secured his second world indoor title in an incredibly close contest. With just one centimetre separating the three medallists, it matched the 2012 edition for the closest ever World Indoor Championships long jump final. Tentoglou won on countback after soaring a best of 8.22 m. In June 2024, at the European Athletics Championships, he extended his championship record by jumping 8.65 m. twice in the process, taking the gold medal again and setting, also, a new PB. In August 2024, at Paris's Olympic Games he maintained his Olympic title with a leap of 8.48 m, making him the only jumper after Carl Lewis, with a back to back Olympic gold medal in the long jump. In September 2024, he spoke out against the World Athletics Federation's intention to replace the wooden jumping board with a take off zone. He said if this change will take place, he will retire.

Achievements

Personal bests

Long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

– (

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

2024) 3rd European all time ** Long jump indoor – (

2022) , 6th performer all time *Became the second man to successfully defend an Olympic long jump title, after

Carl Lewis Frederick Carlton Lewis (born July 1, 1961) is an American former track and field athlete who won nine Olympic gold medals, one Olympic silver medal, and 10 World Championships medals, including eight gold. Lewis was a dominant sprinter and lo ...

(who did it 3 times though, winning long jump gold medals in 4 consecutive Olympics).

International competitions

Circuit wins and titles

Diamond League The Diamond League is an annual series of elite track and field athletic competitions comprising fifteen invitational athletics meetings. The series sits in the top tier of the World Athletics one-day meet competitions. The inaugural season was ...

long jump champion: Diamond blue

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

(1): Monaco Herculis **

(5): Rabat Meeting International Mohammed VI d'Athlétisme, Oslo Bislett Games, Stockholm BAUHAUS-galan, Chorzów Kamila Skolimowska Memorial (), Zürich Weltklasse

National titles

* Greek Athletics Championships **

(6): 2017 (8.30 m ), 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2024 * Greek Indoor Athletics Championships ** Long jump (6): 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024

References

External links

* * * *
Official Tentoglou Family Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tentoglou, Miltiadis Living people 1998 births Greek male long jumpers Olympic athletes for Greece Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2024 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Grevena Greek European Athletics Championships winners European Athletics Indoor Championships winners Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2024 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Olympic gold medalists for Greece World Athletics Indoor Championships winners Diamond League winners Athletes (track and field) at the 2023 European Games European Games gold medalists for Greece European Games medalists in athletics World Athletics Championships winners 21st-century Greek sportsmen