On Monday, Greece’s Miltiadis Tentoglou, who had been trailing in the long jump race, came through in the clutch to win the gold medal (2).
Long Jump Olympic Games Tokyo 2020
Fourth going into his final jump, the European champion produced an 8.41m effort to tie early leader Juan Miguel Echevarria and win on countback.
For the young Cuban, who had been dealing with a strained hamstring all game, that was an added burden. After feeling increasingly uncomfortable with each successive round, Echevarria began his final approach.
He never even jogged full speed; instead, he paused before the take-off board and, on his knees, pounded the ground twice before stepping off the runway.
Tentoglou, who at first looked unwilling to acknowledge that he had won, exclaimed, “What a fantastic competition, what an incredible jump, the last jump.” It was difficult for me to do so at first. But I came up with an idea in the end and won the medal.
World indoor champion Echevarria appeared to win his first world outdoor gold in a thrilling finish.
Maykel Masso, another member of his team, jumped 8.21 metres to take the lead after the first round. Then in the third round, Echevarria, who had started with a leap of 8.09 metres, sailed out to 8.41 metres and grabbed charge.
By the third and fourth rounds, both Cubans were suffering right hamstring injuries, with Echevarria favouring his after each leap and Masso unable to continue due to pain.
Tentoglou was sitting in third place after the first round with a jump of 8.11 metres until JuVaughn Harrison, who had placed seventh in last night’s high jump final, shook off the rust and jumped 8.15 metres to take over bronze.
There are two phases to the competition. Each contestant has three opportunities to make their qualifying jump as far as possible. The top twelve athletes, including those who are tied for twelfth after three attempts, move on to the final round.
Last Words
Each qualified athlete will get three attempts in the final, while the top eight finishers after the first round will each get an additional three chances to make the long possible jump. After six attempts, the winner is determined by the athlete who has made the long jump.
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