High jinx in long jump as Roisín hits PB in 3000m final
GREEK Miltiadis Tentoglou threatened to quit the long jump shortly after winning the world indoor title in Glasgow yesterday if the sport implements a rule change intended to eliminate foul jumps.
The amendment World Athletics is proposing involves introducing a takeoff zone, where jumps would be measured from an athlete’s take-off to landing position, getting rid of foul jumps to make the event more appealing to fans.
‘I consider long jump to be one of the hardest events because of the board and the accuracy you need,’ Tentoglou told reporters.
‘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.
‘So if they want to remove this, the long jump would be the easiest event,’ he added.
‘If that happens, I will not do long jump anymore. I will be a triple jumper.’
The 25-year-old Tentoglou, also the reigning Olympic and world outdoor champion, and 19-year-old Italian Mattia Furlani both leapt 8.22 metres in Glasgow with the Greek taking gold on the 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,’ Tentoglou said.
Meanwhile, Ireland’s Roisín Flanagan said she will learn from the experience of making the final of the 3000m last night and will hope to improve on the back of going up against such a strong field.
The Tyrone runner finished 15 out of 16 runners in a time of 8:53.02, a personal best for the 26-year-old, and told Virgin Media afterwards she planned to build on that display heading into an Olympic year.
American Elle Purrier St Pierre took gold in 8:20.87, with Ethiopia’s Guday
Tdegay claiming the silver medal and Beatrice Chepkoech taking bronze.