"It's so bad it's funny"- Olympic Long Jump champion Miltiádis Tentóglou denounces World Athletics' proposal to change the long jump to a takeoff zone

Greek athlete Miltiádis Tentóglou has stated that he will quit the long jump event if World Athletics implements a new regulation for eliminating foul jumps in the long jump event. His comments came after he secured the world indoor title on Saturday, March 2.

World Athletics have proposed a new rule that involves creating a take-off zone to measure jumps from an athlete’s take-off to landing position. This amendment aims to eliminate foul jumps and make the event more attractive to fans.

In his post-event interview with CITIUS MUG, Tentóglou expressed his views on this proposed amendment:

“I consider long jump to be one of the hardest events because of the board and the accuracy you need.”

He then added:

“You need to run like a sprinter, to hit the board perfectly - this is the difficult part of the long jump. The jump itself is easy. The hard part is the run-up.”

During the opening news conference of the World Athletics Championship, Sebastian Coe, the president of World Athletics, suggested those changes in the long jump event. He also said that such changes in this event are necessary to keep up with the evolving interests of sponsors and viewers.

Miltiádis Tentóglou commented on this as well, saying:

“So if they want to remove this, the long jump would be the easiest event. If that happens, I will not do the long jump anymore. I will be a triple jumper.”

When Tentóglou was asked for his reaction to seeing the news about changing the rule of the take-off position in the long jump, he said:

“It's so bad it's funny.”

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Miltiádis Tentóglou retains the long jump title in World Athletics Indoor Championship

Miltiádis Tentóglou successfully defended his world indoor title against young Italian Mattia Furlani on Saturday at the World Athletics Indoor Championship in Glasgow. The 25-year-old Greek, is now both the reigning Olympic and world outdoor champion.

In a recent competition held in Glasgow, he and 19-year-old Italian Mattia Furlani both achieved a distance of 8.22 meters (26.97 feet) in their jumps. However, Tentoglou won the gold medal on a tiebreak due to his longer second-best jump.

“It was very close. I hope everyone had some fun today, at least, it was exciting in the end,” Miltiádis Tentóglou said about his performance.

Furlani achieved his first-ever global medal in his career in the World Athletics Indoor Championship on Saturday. During his sixth and final attempt, he made a jump that seemed to be the winning jump for the silver medal. However, he stepped over the take-off board which resulted in a foul.

Carey McLeod of Jamaica bagged the bronze medal with 8.21 meters in this event.