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Greek athletes triumphed on Saturday, July 26, on day one of the 77th Balkan Athletics Championships taking place in Volos, central Greece. The host nation’s representatives won a multitude of gold medals in various men’s and women’s competitions, along with a silver and bronze.
Local crowds at the Panthessaliko Stadium kept cheering on the Greek athletes, creating a most encouraging atmosphere—something many participants mentioned in post-competition interviews.
Men’s long jump legend Miltiadis Tentoglou, women’s javelin thrower Elina Tzengko, sprinters Rafailia Spanoudaki Chatziriga and Melissa Chelena Anastasakis, as well as the men’s and women’s 4 x 100 teams all claimed gold and stood atop the podium.
The Balkan Athletics Championships continue on Sunday in Volos. The events are livestreamed on YouTube by European Athletics, and the public can attend in person at the stadium with free admission.
Tentoglou wins gold with only jump
Greece’s Olympic champion Miltiadis Tentoglou, who is also the world and European champion in the men’s long jump, delivered a routine victory, securing gold, with a second round leap of 8.07 meters. His only jump at the competition was enough to put him ahead of Bulgaria’s European indoor champion Bozhidar Sarâboyukov, whose best effort was 7.90 meters.
Less than a month earlier, Tentoglou stunned Europe at the European Athletics Team Championships 1st Division in Spain by completing a world-leading jump of 8.46 meters.
The men’s 4 x 100 team—Lampros Volikas, Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos, Sotirios Gkaragkanis, Vasileios Myrianthopoulos—also won gold in Volos, breaking the most recent Balkan record after three years.
Besides the gold medals that Greece won in men’s competitions on the first day of the tournament, Antonios Merlos took the silver medal in the men’s high jump.
Greek female athletes win multiple gold medals
Saturday was a great first day of the Balkan Athletics Championships for Greek women’s competitions as well.
Sprinter Rafailia Spanoudaki Chatziriga took the women’s 100-meter race in 11.31, winning another gold for Greece, while Greek-Canadian Melissa Chelena Anastasakis took gold in the 5,000 meters and broke her personal record.
The 2022 European javelin gold medalist Elina Tzengko also won gold with a 62.83-meter throw.
The women’s 4 x 100 m team—Sofia Kamperidou, Rafailia Spanoudaki Chatziriga, Dimitra Tsoukala, Polyniki Emmanouilidou—delivered another great performance and secured the top spot.
In the women’s triple jump, Greek champion Oxana Koreneva was third with 14.00 meters and won bronze.
Athletics competitions continue with Diamond League tournaments this summer before the best athletes compete at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo in September.
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