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E-mail Xinhua, August 7, 2024
Greece's Miltiadis Tentoglou successfully defended his Olympic title by winning the men's long jump final at the Paris Olympics on Tuesday.
The 26-year-old took gold with a best leap of 8.48 meters, 0.12 ahead of Jamaica's Wayne Pinnock, who won silver.
Italy's Mattia Furlani finished third with a jump of 8.34 meters.
Tentoglou, who is also a three-time European champion and the reigning world champion, admitted his best jump fell short of his expectations.
But the swirling breeze inside the Stade de France also troubled his rivals.
"Today it was impossible to jump so far," he said. "It was not the best conditions. The wind was difficult at times. It was more like a qualification. I was trying [to jump further] but it didn't happen.”
Tentoglou is the first man to retain the Olympic long jump title since the United States' Carl Lewis in 1996.
When reminded of this, Tentoglou showed remarkable humility.
"I am the second guy but there are many others who have won the world championships many times but they were unlucky in the Olympics," he said. "With the Olympics you have to be lucky because it is one final every four years, and it is difficult."
