Miltiadis Tentoglou is in exceptional form, and Greeceโs defending Olympic champion made a strong statement in the menโs long jump qualifying with an impressive leap of 8.32 metersโhis only attempt needed.
This season, Tentoglou has retained both his world indoor and European outdoor titles, and has won ten out of eleven competitions he entered. He also set a new personal best of 8.65 meters, the best mark in five years, during the European Championships. There, he consistently performed, with five jumps over 8.40 metersโan achievement matched by only two other athletes this year.
โIโm in very good shape, it was nothing for me and I feel very good so weโll see now if anyone can challenge me,โ Tentoglou, 26, said after his โone and doneโ on Sunday.
Switzerlandโs Simon Ehammer (8.41) and Jamaican Wayne Pinnock (8.40) are the men in his slipstream on the seasonโs world leading chart but Tentoglouโs focus is on a rather better known name in the sport โ Carl Lewis.
The American who won four successive Olympic titles from 1984 to 1996 is the only man to have successfully defended it.
Tentoglou, who is also the world champion, aims to change that in Paris and on Sundayโs showing, with nobody else in the field looking even close to him, he is in with a great chance.
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โIt would be amazing,โ he said of the prospect. โIt would make me one of the best of all time. Maybe not the very best, but in terms of achievements. That is my extra motivation.โ
Chinaโs Wang Jianan, who snatched the 2022 world gold from Tentoglou in the last round, has a seasonโs best of 8.12, while Czech Radek Juska produced a seasonโs best of 8.15 โ the only other man to hit the automatic qualification distance.
Pinnock and fellow Jamaican Carey McLeod, the only athlete to have beaten Tentoglou this year, also went through.
The long jump is another event historically dominated by the United States, with 22 gold and 47 medals in all, but they have won only two of the last six golds and had a terrible day.
Jarrion Lawson had three no-jumps while Jeremiah Davis was 15th and Malcolm Clemons 21st, with 12 going through to Tuesdayโs final. It is the only second time, after 2008, that the U.S. have failed to get a man into the final.