GLASGOW, Scotland — Miltiadis Tentoglou on Saturday threatened to quit the long jump shortly after winning the indoor world championships, saying he would change the event if the sport implemented rule changes aimed at eliminating illegal jumps. Stated.
Amendments proposed by World Athletics include the introduction of a take-off zone, where athletes' jumps are measured from take-off to landing, and the elimination of foul jumps, to make the event more appealing to fans. There is.
“I think the long jump is one of the most difficult events because of the platform and the precision required,” Tentoglou told reporters. “You have to run like a sprinter to land perfectly on the board. This is the difficult part of the long jump. The jump itself is easy. The difficult part is the run-up.”
“So if they wanted to remove this, the long jump would be the easiest event,” he added. “If that happens, I will no longer be a long jumper. I will become a triple jumper.”
World Athletics president Sebastian Coe said at Thursday's world championships opening press conference that changes like the long jump are needed to respond to changing interests from viewers and sponsors.
“The holy grail of any sport is to remain salient, interesting and exciting to young people. We can't afford to listen to their direction,” Coe said. “We have to recognize that the way people consume sports, the way they consume entertainment, is different than it was three years ago.”
Tentgrue, 25, is also the current Olympic and World Outdoor Champion. He and Italian Mattia Furlani, 19, both jumped 8.22 meters (26.97 feet) in Glasgow, and the Greek jumper won gold with the second-longest jump in the tiebreaker.
“It was a very close game. I hope everyone had fun today. At least it was exciting at the end,” said Tentoglou.
Furlani, who won his first medal in the world, took what appeared to be a winning jump on his sixth and final attempt, but stepped over the take-off board and a red flag went up for a foul.
Although he probably would have won the gold medal under the proposed rules, Furlani was not too disappointed.
“Wow, what a great day. I'm so excited because it's my first step onto the world stage,” he said. “I have time now, so [in my career] To improve speed and power. But I'm so excited to have this. ”
Jamaica's Carey McLeod won the bronze medal with a distance of 8.21m.
At the 2023 World Outdoor Championships, one-third of all jumps were no-jumps, prompting the World Athletics Federation to consider changing the rules.
