Olympic Champion Miltos Tentoglou to Auction his Shoes for Victims in Turkey

Greek long jumper Miltiadis (Miltos) Tentoglou will auction his shoes, with the proceeds to be donated to the child victims of the earthquake that struck southern Turkey last week.

The sports shoes were worn by the Olympic gold medalist last week when he achieved the furthest long jump performed so far this year with 8.40 meters, during the Toruń meeting in Poland.

Κορυφαία επίδοση φέτος στον κόσμο 8.40 στο μήκος από τον ασταμάτητο Μίλτο Τεντόγλου. Μπράβο Μίλτο#Tentoglou#TeamHellas#RoadtoParis2024 pic.twitter.com/ZB19eNW71a

— Ηellenic Olympic Committee (@HellenicOlympic) February 8, 2023

However, World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation, struck off his achievement claiming that his shoes were irregular.

Tentoglou and his coach Giorgos Pomaski vehemently denied any irregularity with the sportswear to no avail.

The decision of World Athletics was reportedly based on the rationale that the shoes worn by the “golden” Olympic champion of Tokyo are prohibited in long jump competitions. In particular, Tentoglou was wearing the “Black Panther” version of Adidas shoes specially designed for long jump, which were released in a limited edition.

According to World Athletics, this model is prohibited for use in long jump events. But no one had checked Tentoglou’s shoes before launching his efforts at the indoor sports meeting.

“I don’t care about an 8.40 jump. I can jump it whenever the fxxx I want,” the 24-year-old athlete wrote after his performance was canceled.

Miltos Tentoglou then jumps 8.41

But the Greek champion took his revenge on World Athletics by jumping 8.41 at the next athletic event that took place in France earlier this week.

Yesterday: "I don't care about an 8.40 jump..I can jump it whenever the fuck I want. It's just unfair. I'm disgusted."
Today: 8.41 👏👏👏#Τεντογλου #MiltosTentoglou #Meeting_Lievin pic.twitter.com/kREJlNZsnK

— Demetrios Ioannou (@ioannou_dim) February 15, 2023

Tentoglou, born in 1998, won a gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics with a jump of 8.41 meters.

In 2022, Tentoglou became the World indoor champion jumping the current Greek indoor record of 8.55 meters, which places him sixth on the world indoor all-time list, and took silver at the outdoor World Championships. He holds an outdoor personal best of 8.60 m (28 ft 2+1⁄2 in).

Tentoglou has won four consecutive European titles: at the 2018 European Championships in Berlin, where he became the youngest Greek man to win a continental gold, the 2019 European Indoor Championships in Glasgow, the 2021 European Indoor Championships in Toruń and at the 2022 European Championships in Munich, where he set a championship record in the process. He is the 2022 Diamond League long jump champion.