In Tokyo, it came down to his last attempt to snatch the gold from his competitors…
In Paris, he had to wait for his competitors’ final jumps, even though it was clear from his second jump (when he took the lead) that no one could threaten him. Despite others wishing otherwise.
“I want someone to push me to make a big jump,” Miltos said after his easy qualification performance, and it seemed the Italian Mattia Furlani heard him.
The 19-year-old jumper, who started third, landed at 8.34 meters on his first jump, exciting the Stand De France…
The next five jumpers didn’t offer any excitement, with Miltos making his first attempt and stopping at 8.27 meters due to stepping well behind the board.
With Furlani’s second jump at 8.25 meters showing great consistency and the entries of Ehammer (8.20) and Fincham-Dukes (8.14) into the mix, the crowd got excited, but the breakout moment came a bit later.
On Miltos’ second attempt, he marked 8.48 meters, placing him in first. He made the perfect board takeoff (millimeters from the board) and responded to the Italian and the others, with Pinnock marking 8.36 to take second place.
The third attempt brought no changes at the top (Tentoglou had 8.24m, Pinnock 7.99m, and Furlani was invalid), but the last four competitors were eliminated, leaving the top eight, with Miltos jumping last as the leader.
The 4th attempt was perhaps the worst for the top seven (4 invalids and three low jumps) with Miltos continuing his solitary lead with an excellent 8.36m jump! With this jump, he was tied for first with Pinnock!
With the others not showing any capability for an upset, Tentoglou waited for the 5th attempts of Furlani and Pinnock…
The Italian, after two invalids, made a good jump but it measured the same as his first (8.34m), remaining third. A good jump by Pinnock too but still far from Miltos with 8.24m.
As for Tentoglou, he had another excellent jump at 8.31m, with only one last attempt remaining…
Ehammer’s low jump secured Tentoglou a medal, and now it was down to the final three…
Everyone knew. Furlani landed at 8.27m, Pinnock at 8.12m, and Miltos was the Olympic champion before his jump.
Some speculated he might attempt to break Tsatoumas’ cursed national record, but even this robot-like athlete was swept away by his historic achievement, making his first invalid…
And it was the sweetest invalid of his illustrious career…
Final Standings
- Tentoglou: 8.27m, 8.48m, 8.24m, 8.36m, 8.31m, X
- Pinnock: 7.84m, 8.36m, 7.99m, 8.05m, 8.24m, 8.12m
- Furlani: 8.34m, 8.25m, X, X, 8.34m, 8.27m
- Ehammer: X, 8.20m, 8.11m, 7.92m, X, X
- Fincham-Dukes: 7.95m, 8.14m, X, X, X, 7.64m
- Zhang: 7.81m, X, 8.07m, X, 7.93m, X
- Badge: 7.58m, 8.07m, 7.79m, 7.71m, 7.95m, 7.94m
- Wang: 7.96m, X, 7.92m, X, X, 8.03m
