Long Jump, Men

Jamaican Tajay Gayle was the 2011 World Champion and a slight favorite, but in the qualifying he opened with a foul, and landed badly on his second effort, writhing in pain. He would come back for the third attempt and qualified.

The shocker in qualifying came from Cuba’s Juan Miguel Echevarria, who jumped 8.50 metres for the yearly world lead. Behind him Greece’s Miltiadis Tentoglou placed second at 8.22 metres.

Gayle was never a factor in the final with his injured left knee from the qualifying, eventually finishing 11th. The first-round leader was Cuba’s Maykel Massó who jumped 8.21 metres, which would be good for the bronze medal. He took one more jump, injuring himself in the effort, and then passed his remaining attempts.

Tentoglou and Echevarria opened with 8.11 and 8.09 to stand second and third after the first round. Echevarria moved into the lead in round three with a big leap of 8.41 metres. A day after competing in the high jump final, American JuVaughn Harrison struggled to qualify for the final three jumps and finished fifth. Tentoglou improved in round five with a mark of 8.15. It did not move him up, as he still stood third, but it would soon be of some importance. The final round saw Spain’s Eusebio Cáceres improve to 8.18 metres and move into bronze medal position, displacing Tentoglou.

Tentoglou then took his last jump and recorded 8.41 metres to match Echevarria’s mark. The gold medal was decided on the second-best mark, and that 8.15 metres in round five gave gold to Tentoglou, as Echevarria’s second-best effort was his first round mark of 8.11.

Tentoglou later said, “I always have something in reserve.” He would come back at Paris 2024 to defend his gold medal, the first to do so in the men’s long jump since Carl Lewis won four consecutive golds from 1984-1996.