Emperor Tentoglou in Tokyo (video)!

With a majestic final leap, the Miltos Tentoglou he competed for the gold medal in the Tokyo Olympics Tokyo Olympics, sending shivers of excitement through all Greeks. The Greek champion, who had been out of medal contention until his final attempt, saved the best for last and, gliding through the air, landed at 8.41 meters, a performance that tied the jump by Cuban Juan Miguel Echevarría, but was enough to secure him the gold medal due to his better second jump.

Thus, Tentoglou cemented his dominance in the sport this year; after all, let’s not forget that he holds this year’s world-leading mark of 8.60 m.

On his first jump, the Greek champion took a very long run-up (12.7), but cleared the bar two centimeters higher than Etchevaría (8.11), taking an early lead in the battle for the gold medal. At the end of the first round, however, it was Mikel Maso who recorded the longest jump at 8.21.

In the second round of jumps, Echevarria was disqualified, as was Tentoglou, while Maso maintained the lead at 8.21, having jumped just 8.05. In the third round, however, Echevarria made a very long jump of 8.41 m, moving into first place, while Tentoglou had his second consecutive failed attempt, remaining in third place.

At the start of the next set of three jumps for the top eight long jumpers, Tentoglou matched the distance of his first jump (8.10), landing 10.9 centimeters short of the maximum allowed distance, while American Juven Harrison overtook him on his fifth jump with a distance of 8.15.

On his fifth jump, the Greek champion landed 12.4 meters short of the qualifying mark and tied Harrison at 8.15, but his overall jumps were better than the American’s, and he returned to medal contention. The… thriller, however, was far from over.

Spain's Cáceres, with a jump of 8.18 on his sixth attempt, pushed Tentoglou down to fourth place, but that's when the 23-year-old Greek champion's class really shone through.

He made the perfect jump on his sixth attempt and not only returned to the medal standings but also won the gold (since the two Cubans had been eliminated, due to injuries) in a historic moment for Greek track and field, as, among other things, it was the first medal ever won by a Greek athlete in the long jump at the Olympic Games.

THE HIGHLIGHTS OF THE GRAND FINAL

                               1st attempt   2nd attempt   3rd attempt   4th attempt   5th attempt   6th attempt

1. Milto Tentoglou (Greece) 8.11 Foul     Foul     8.10 8.15 8.41

2. Juan Miguel Echevarría (Cuba)    8.09 Foul     8.41 6.71 - Foul

3. Mikel Maso (Cuba) 8.21 8.05 -     -     - - -

4. Eusebio Cáceres (Spain) 7.96 8.09 Disqualified     Disqualified     8.12 8.18

5. Juven Harrison (USA) 7.57 7.70 7.96 7.87 8.15 7.49

6. Yuki Hashioka (Japan) Foul 7.95 7.97 Foul     7.94 8.10

7. Tobias Mondler (Sweden) 8.08 7.93 DNF     8.05 DNF DNF

8. Filippo Radazzo (Italy) Foul 7.99 Foul     Foul     7.88 Foul

9. Christian Pouli (Finland) 7.85 7.92 7.88 - - -

10. Changju Huang (China) Disqualified 7.50 7.72 - - -

11. Tajai Gayle (Jamaica) DNF DNF     7.69 - - -

12. Fabian Heinle (Germany) 5.18 7.57 7.62 - - -

The final standings
1. MILTOS TENTOGLOU (GREECE) 8.41 –GOLD MEDAL–
2. Juan Miguel Echevarría (Cuba) 8.41 –SILVER MEDAL–
3. Mikel Maso (Cuba) 8.21 –BRONZE MEDAL–
4. Eusebio Caseres (Spain) 8.18
5. Juven Harrison (USA) 8.15
6. Yuki Hashioka (Japan) 8.10
7. Tobias Montler (Sweden) 8.08
8. Filippo Radazzo (Italy) 7.99