Athletics EAA European Championships 2024

[Monzanator 5,136]

28 minutes ago, heywoodu said:

Well that's a mess by those judges...

It's actually happened a few times in technical events before though usually the contested mark has been ruled in favor of the athlete. I also recall someone getting an extra fourth effort in long jump since the original contested mark has been wiped from the sand already (and TV pictures are only as accurate).

 

Also it rarely works the other way around as in the case of Bianca Kappler saying she couldn't improve her PB by 30 cms as given by the official measurement. She was later awarded bronze medal for fair play at 2005 Indoor Europeans.

Edited June 9, 2024 by Monzanator

[Makedonas 2,263]

19 hours ago, Ted said:

Tentoglou live on Greek TV now: has such nice words to say about his fellow athletes as always and says he thinks he is cursed  since he missed the Greek NR record by a mere 2 cms.

What is ironic is that our NR holder, Louis Tsatoumas, was notorious for jumping higher in qualifying rounds and smaller meets and failing in big finals. I mean who could forget in Beijing 2008 when he finished first in qualifying and then had 3 fouls in the final?! 

[Makedonas 2,263]

The interesting thing about Tentoglou is that he has never lost a European final. He has competed at:

2017 European U20 Championships

2018 European Championships

2019 European Indoor Championships

2019 European U23 Championships

2021 European Indoor Championships

2022 European Championships

2023 European Indoor Championships

2024 European Championships

 

Every single time he won gold, also at the European Games if that counts 

[Monzanator 5,136]

@MakedonasSo how high is Tentoglou on the domestic pantheon of sporting heroes? Still below Nikos Galis I imagine?

[bestmen 2,926]

Russia is in ? 

[Makedonas 2,263]

Aside from Tentoglou's gold, it really hasn't been a good Championships for us. We won 5 medals in Munich (4 gold) and 6 medals in Berlin (3 gold), finishing in the top 5 of the medal table both times, but this time I don't see us coming anywhere close to that 

 

Tonight should be exciting though, with the final for Zaltos in the men's hammer and semi (and hopefully final) for Emmanouilidou in the women's 100, both are young and chasing Paris and I think they will both end up making it 

 

We had a lot of disappointments here so far, not really from medal contenders but some of our athletes chasing Olympic spots (Pesiridou, Tsiamis, Scarvelis, Dosi, Tsinopoulou, Filtisakou, Papamichail...). Also Drisbioti was disappointing but not surprising as she is just coming back from injury.

 

Hopefully, some of our other medal hopes can convert their chances (Karalis, Tzengko, Stefanidi).

[Makedonas 2,263]

13 minutes ago, Monzanator said:

@MakedonasSo how high is Tentoglou on the domestic pantheon of sporting heroes? Still below Nikos Galis I imagine?

Yes, it is tough to compare athletics with basketball which people in Greece follow basically all year long and is much more popular as a sport, but I think if Tentoglou can keep this up for some more years he can definitely get up there.

 

Pyrros Dimas won 3 gold (1992, 1996, 2000) and 1 bronze (2004) in weightlifting so I think he has some work to do to catch up, a gold in Paris would be a huge step in the right direction.

[heywoodu 16,468]

6 minutes ago, Makedonas said:

Yes, it is tough to compare athletics with basketball which people in Greece follow basically all year long and is much more popular as a sport, but I think if Tentoglou can keep this up for some more years he can definitely get up there.

 

Pyrros Dimas won 3 gold (1992, 1996, 2000) and 1 bronze (2004) in weightlifting so I think he has some work to do to catch up, a gold in Paris would be a huge step in the right direction.

If a second consecutive Olympic gold in a competitive event like the long jump, besides three world titles, doesn't make someone one of the greatest athlete a country has ever produced*, said country must absolutely be legendarily good at sports  

 

 

*not just looking at the popularity of the sport, which judging by your words about basketball might be his biggest 'problem'?

[Grassmarket 4,314]

21 minutes ago, bestmen said:

Russia is in ? 

No, not even as neutrals.  Well, some Azeris etc

[Makedonas 2,263]

13 minutes ago, heywoodu said:

If a second consecutive Olympic gold in a competitive event like the long jump, besides three world titles, doesn't make someone one of the greatest athlete a country has ever produced*, said country must absolutely be legendarily good at sports  

 

 

*not just looking at the popularity of the sport, which judging by your words about basketball might be his biggest 'problem'?

Perhaps I misunderstood the question from @Monzanator, I thought he meant it in a way more about popularity and being seen as a hero than based on achievements alone. Galis and Dimas for example are still bigger names in Greece. Even from the current sportsmen, we have a lot of basketball players and footballers, also our two tennis stars, who get more media attention than the likes of Tentoglou, Petrounias, Korakaki, etc.

 

To be honest athletics was more popular in Greece from 1992 to 2004, though now in recent years the sport is becoming more popular again thanks to Tentoglou and also others like Stefanidi.

 

 

EDIT-I will say Tentoglou is probably our most well liked sportsman these days, because the basketball players, footballers, and tennis players have some "haters" in Greece but Tentoglou doesn't have any haters.

Edited June 9, 2024 by Makedonas