Greece’s Miltiadis Tentoglou left it late to win men’s Olympic long jump gold in a thrilling competition in Tokyo on Monday.
The European champion leapt a best of 8.41 metres on his sixth and final attempt to snatch victory from Cuban Juan Miguel Echevarria, who also jumped 8.41m but had an inferior second-best jump.
Another Cuban, Maykel Masso, claimed bronze with 8.21m.
In hot, humid conditions at the Olympic Stadium, the 23-year-old Tentoglou was left punching the air after his sixth jump.
All eyes then turned on world bronze medallist Echevarria, but the Cuban pulled up on his final effort, going down on bended knees and hitting the runway in frustration.
Echevarria’s best second jump was 8.09m, 6 centimetres short of the 8.15 his Greek rival managed on his fifth effort.
World champion Tajay Gayle could only manage 7.69m to finish 11th in the 12-strong field, having picked up a knee injury in qualifying.
JuVaughn Harrison, who doubled up in Tokyo, finishing seventh in Sunday’s high jump final, finished fifth in the long jump with a leap of 8.15.
