It only took one jump. Miltos Tentoglou was crowned European long jump champion for the fourth time in a row , with a jump of 8.44m that decided the final long before it was even finished.
The two-time Olympic gold medalist landed at 8.44m. on his fourth attempt , correcting his landing that was just five centimeters behind the valve. The jump came immediately after the break that limited the process to the best eight and worked like a full stop: the Swiss Simon Ehammer smiled awkwardly, understanding that he would need to go over to answer. There was no answer. The Greek champion passed the fifth attempt, did not even enter the sixth and began the celebrations.
The performance gains more value if the conditions are taken into account. The headwind plagued the entire pit and Tentoglou himself confirmed it immediately afterwards: “It’s a fantastic performance. I haven’t seen the jump yet, but I think it’s very good. It was really so difficult to jump here today. One of the most difficult finals I’ve ever done,” he told ERT’s camera.
The podium was completed by Simon Ehammer with 8.29m and Bulgarian Bozidar Saraboyukov , who took bronze with 8.26m in his last attempt. In the qualifiers, a day earlier, Tentoglu had started awkwardly with 7.78m and was temporarily in 12th place, but the 8.26m in his second attempt comfortably sent him to the final as one of the five who exceeded the direct limit of 8.15m.
With the victory in Birmingham, the 28-year-old jumper from Grevena adds his fourth European gold in outdoor athletics , after Berlin (2018) , Munich (2022) and Rome (2024) . In total, he reaches 12 golds and 13 medals in major events , consolidating his place among the top jumpers of all time. This year’s season was already excellent: on July 26, he had equaled the Panhellenic record of Louis Chatoumas in outdoor athletics.
The evening ended with a scene that reminded us why Tentoglou has won over audiences outside the pits. Speaking to the camera, he suddenly realized that he had left his gold medal somewhere — and his comment, spontaneous and unpretentious, immediately went viral.
Congratulatory messages came from the political leadership, with Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias describing the Greek champion’s fourth European gold as a “huge achievement.”
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