PIRAEUS – The Piraeus Street Long Jump made history in Piraeus on June 4. The sporting event was the first long jump competition held outside a stadium in Greece and exceeded all expectations.

In an impressive atmosphere, the area in front of the iconic Municipal Theater of Piraeus was filled with a crowd that watched with bated breath as Olympic gold medalist Miltos Tentoglou took first place with an amazing jump of 8.24m, as top jumpers from nine countries competed in the event. After the end of the race, Tentoglou shared smiles with young and old, took dozens of photos with fans who waited patiently, and heard his name chanted several times.

The event was broadcast live on the Greek TV station MEGA, with impressive jumps by the athletes and the Municipal Theater in the background for this great sports celebration which many hope will become an institution for Piraeus.

The event was held in the presence of the Piraeus Mayor Yannis Moralis, Olympiacos owner and Member of the Piraeus City Council Evangelos Marinakis, SEGAS President Sofia Sakorafa, General Secretary of Sports Giorgos Mavrotas, Deputy Mayor of Outreach, Tourism and European Programs Andriana Zarakeli, President of OPAN Iosif Vourakis, Olympian, World Champion, European Champion and SEGAS First Vice President Kostas Kenteris, Olympian, European Champion Niki Xanthou, high jump champion Lambros Papakostas, 200m champion Katerina Koffa, Councilor of the Mayor of Piraeus on sports matters Nikos Gemelos, and Long Jump Federation coach and Tentoglou’s coach George Pomaski.

Top athletes from Germany, Sweden, Serbia, Croatia, Romania, Bulgaria, Uzbekistan, Cyprus, and Greece met in the center of Piraeus and took part in the Piraeus Street Long Jump. This major sporting event took place under the seal of World Athletics, which included the event in the World Athletics Continental Tour series, in the Silver category, in a unique venue that was created with absolute security and according to the international standards of World Athletics, within 24 hours, especially for the Piraeus Street Long Jump.

Revival of the long jump 167 years later

According to the historical document, under the title “Five events are set – the ‘unknown Olympians’ of 1856”, the following five events were held in Piraeus in 1856: the jump, the long jump, the discus throw (stone throw), running, and wrestling. Piraeus, always a pioneer, revived the sport of long jump with the Piraeus Street Long Jump at the Municipal Theater.

Great Performance for Athletes

Among the men, first place was won by Olympic gold medalist Miltos Tentoglou with an amazing jump of 8.24m, which he saved for the audience on his last jump. In second place was the Swede Thobias Montler, with a jump of 7.88m and Uzbek Anvar Anvarov finished third with a jump of 7.84m.

Among the women, Serbia’s Milica Gardasevic had the third best performance in Europe this year and took first place with a jump of 6.77m, Romania’s Alina Rotaru-Kottmann took second place with a jump of 6.71m, and the Serbian Angelina Topic took third place with a jump of 6.52m.

See the detailed results online: https://shorturl.at/xyzPY.

The Piraeus Street Long Jump was co-organized by the Municipality of Piraeus, SEGAS and the Culture, Sports and Youth Organization of the Municipality of Piraeus (OPAN), as part of the Sea Days 2023.

Mayor Moralis stated: “We had an amazing day on Sunday in Piraeus. We are very happy and satisfied that the Piraeus Street Long Jump that we organized in collaboration with SEGAS impressed the spectators, as well as the athletes. It was an important event for Piraeus and sports in general. It is the first long distance race in Greece that takes place on the street, in the center of a city. In front of the emblematic Municipal Theater of Piraeus, we enjoyed important sportsmen and women athletes from all over the world, with impressive jumps and good performances, with our Olympic Gold Medalist Miltos Tentoglou leading of course. It was a day of celebration for our Piraeus; it was enjoyed by all Piraeus, as well as those who watched the match live on Mega. We want this event to become an institution and to be held every year in Piraeus. But we won’t stop there. We believe that many athletics competitions can be held in the city and not only that, Piraeus is intertwined with sports and we have proven that we can successfully organize top international competitions, which in addition to promoting our city, also motivate our children to turn to sports. I thank SEGAS and the President Sofia Sakorafa for the cooperation and all those who worked and contributed to the success of this event as well as Evangelos Marinakis and the TV station MEGA, through which the image reached every corner of Greece.”

Olympic gold medalist and world long jump champion Miltos Tentoglou said: “The atmosphere was very nice. I’ve been to two street races abroad and I can confidently say that this was the best by far.”