Long jump gold medalist Miltiadis (Miltos) Tentoglou on Thursday expressed the hope that he would be Greece’s flag-bearer for the opening of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
He declined the Hellenic Olympic Committee’s (EOE) offer to be the flag bearer for the Greek delegation at the closing ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games. After Tentoglou’s refusal, the most likely candidate to carry the flag at Sunday’s closing ceremony appears to be Emmanouil Karalis, who won bronze in the pole vault.
“I want to make my country proud by standing at the top of the podium. I hope to be Greece’s flag bearer at the Los Angeles Olympics, if possible,” the 26-year-old jumper said at a sponsorship event.
Tentoglou joined long jump royalty, as only American Lewis, who won the title four times from 1984 to 1996, had retained the title. “This is for my country. Greece is the country that invented the Olympics, so I am happy to do it for them,” he told reporters.
Will Tentoglou be the flag-bearer for Greece in LA?
Tentoglou will be 30 when at the time of the LA Olympics but he hopes that he will be able to make a repeat performance and give Greece another gold medal.
“Of course I will go,” Tentoglou said. “(For 2032), we will see. And also (for 2028), we will see because you never know. But I will try.”
It could be difficult because there are younger competitors starting to make their mark in the event, he added.
Los Angeles previously hosted the 1932 Summer Olympics and the 1984 Summer Olympics, and will become the third city – after London and Paris in 2024 – to host the Summer Games three times.
Los Angeles will become the first American city to host the Olympic games since the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. It will be the fifth time a US city has hosted the Summer Olympics.
“Miltiadis Tentoglou leaped 8.48 meters to become only the second man after Carl Lewis to successfully defend the men’s Olympic long jump title on Tuesday, delivering his country’s first gold of the Paris Games.”
The above is copied from a report by Reuters which highlights Tentoglou’s achievement, and he is likened to Lewis, the American legend who won nine Olympic gold medals, one Olympic silver medal, and 10 World Championships medals, including eight gold.
“Poker-faced world champion Tentoglou clinched the title with his second attempt, cracking a smile only once he was able to embrace his team in the stands before wrapping himself in the Greece flag,” the Reuters report continues.
