Greece’s Miltiadis Tentoglou retained his world indoor long jump title in Glasgow on Saturday as American Grant Holloway moved smoothly into the semi-finals of the 60m hurdles.
Tentoglou, the reigning Olympic, world and European champion, leaped a best of 8.22 metres on his first effort.
Italy’s Mattia Furlani, 19, claimed silver with the same mark, Jamaican Carey McLeod taking bronze with 8.21m.
Tentoglou, however, was less than impressed by a final held in a morning session at the Emirates Arena.
“This result does not mean anything to me. I did not like the competition today, it was really bad for me. I jumped terrible. The morning final was like a ‘dog shit’,” the Greek said.
“It was very close. I hope everyone had some fun today, at least it was exciting in the end.”
Tentoglou also laid into proposals by World Athletics to trial a “take-off zone” in the long jump in a bid to eliminate foul jumps.
Currently, long jumpers have to launch themselves into the pit from behind a set wooden board. One spike over such board results in a foul jump being called.
The new proposal would see all jumps counting, with the distance measured from the take-off point within the given zone and landing point.
“I consider long jump to be one of the hardest events because of the board and the accuracy you need,” Tentoglou said.
“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. If that happens, I will not do long jump anymore. I will be a triple jumper.”
Get the win
There was no drama for Holloway, the three-time 110m hurdles world champion and Olympic silver medalist, in the opening round of the hurdles.
The 26-year-old, fresh from eclipsing his own world record in the 60m hurdles last month, is unbeaten in indoor races since March 2014, a remarkable record that spans 73 races.
“This race was uneventful for me,” said Holloway, who clocked a leading 7.43 seconds in winning his heat.
“I was doing really well, I’ve just been running 7.3s (this year), so that was my first 7.4 of the season.
“My biggest goal was just to get out here and get a feel for the track. Obviously, my plan is to just go faster for the final. But whatever the time stops at, my main goal to is get out here and get the win.”
Holloway added: “The biggest thing is to come out here, be healthy and get to the final round. The time is already going to speak for itself. I think that coming overseas and and doing what I need to do – it’s just meant to be.”
Holloway will be back in action in the semi-finals later Saturday, with the final scheduled for 2130 GMT.
Favourites Julien Alfred of St Lucia and Poland’s Eva Svoboda both safely negotiated their heats, each in 7.02sec, to progress into the semi-finals of the women’s 60m.
The semi-finals and final are set for 1945 and 2145 GMT later Saturday in a session that sees six other finals.
Aside from the 60m and 60m hurdles, there will also be medals on offer for men and women in the 400m and 3000m, alongside the women’s pole vault and men’s triple jump.
