Miltiadis Tentoglou

It was challenging for both Miltos and his first coach, Evangelos Papanikos, when they began their training regimen. He was initially stubborn. It was challenging to recruit him to the squad because he was unable to cultivate a sense of teamwork. He tried high jump because he enjoyed it, but Papanikos preferred long jump because he was better recognized for his parkour. He became aware that he needed to workout more methodically after observing the initial outcomes. But due to his personality, even this was challenging. He was unaware that training would help him improve.

Miltos didn’t perform consistently in training when he first started. In fact, he spent six months away before coming back from a vacation to Germany. He went to the Panhellenic Boys’ Championship and finished second at six feet, but he couldn’t figure out what was wrong with his performance. He made errors, but dived further into hole to take it more sincerely since he enjoyed receiving a medal and getting to travel and meet new youngsters. He therefore gave it much more thought. Papanikos recognized that his athlete needed to take the major step, and he agreed that he needed to go to Athens.

Miltos met Pomaski at an Agios Nikolaos camp. He used to arrive late for training in the beginning because he didn’t consider doing it in a methodical way. He also had no desire to lift any weights. Pomaski recognised that with good strength training, he could begin his career as an athlete. His daily routine is another aspect that changed.  He continued to eat everything, but with time, whenever he took a bite of the food, he felt bad. Later, Pomaski developed as an athlete. He provided technical information, and George developed his character.

Tentoglou, then 18, competed in the Rio Olympics in 2016, jumped 8.19 metres and failed to qualify for the finals. The following year, he increased his personal best by 8.30m, eventually winning the title of European U20 champion. He won the European Senior Championship in 2018 and earned a spot in the 2019 world championship in Doha. At the World Championships 2019, he struggled to reach his best form in a highly competitive atmosphere and finished in 10th place with 7.79m.

Tentoglou started his outdoor season in Athens in 2021 with a huge personal best of 8.60m, an improvement whose validity was questioned by many. After winning the Greek title with an 8.48-meter leap in June, he astonished everyone by winning the Tokyo Olympics 2020 with a best effort of 8.41 m and silenced all his critics. He once again displayed his brilliance at the World Indoor Championships in Belgrade, Serbia, with an incredible jump of 8.55 meters, which is the seventh-best jump in the history of indoor sports. He leapt an incredible 8.32 meters to finish second and take home the silver medal at the Oregon 2022 World Championships.

Tentoglou was born on March 18, 1998 in Grevena, Greece. Not much information is available regarding his family as he prefers to keep his personal life away from social media platforms. As per reports, he comes from a non-athletic background. As a young boy, he wanted to be a MotoGP rider, then a surfer, and finally a professional parkour performer. He is popularly known by the name Miltos.