site.btaCoach Georgi Pomashki: Balkan Athlete of the Year Title for Miltiadis Tentoglоu Is "Great Recognition"

The Balkan Athlete of the Year award for 2024 is a great recognition for Miltiadis Tentoglоu,  Georgi Pomashki, the coach of the Greek athlete, said in a BTA interview.

Tentoglоu earned the prize in the 51st edition of the BTA poll among the national agencies of the countries in the region, scoring 61 points, ahead of swimmer David Popovici (Romania) and basketball player Nikola Jokic (Serbia).

He became the first Greek athlete to win the vote in 15 years, with the last number 1 athlete in the Balkans from Greece being basketball player Costas Sloukas in 2009.     
     
Tentoglou had a great 2024 season with an Olympic long jump title and gold medals at the European Athletics Championships and World Athletics Indoor Championships.

He has thus become a true legend of athletics with a total of two Olympic titles, a World outdoor title and two indoor titles, as well as three gold medals each at the European Indoor and Outdoor Championships.

"It is a great honour to win this title for the best athlete in the Balkans. To stay on top for seven years is a very long sporting career that deserves recognition and we thank the journalists who voted for him," Pomashki told BTA.

"Miltiadis has an exceptional character that helps him. A very put together boy, a modest boy who is all about the long jump and home. He has no other interests. He's very purposeful in his work. His focus is nothing but long jump. He is chasing performance. He has already won everything and now his focus is on achieving a great result. That will be his goal from now on," he added.

Tentoglou is preparing intensely for the start of the season, which includes two major indoor championships - the European Championships on March 6-9 in Apeldoorn (the Netherlands) and the World Championships on March 21-23 in Nanjing (China). 

"We start the season on January 29 with three competitions on the World Athletics Indoor Tour – in Belgrade (Serbia), in Lievin (France) and in Torun (Poland), then the national championships and in March the two major championships. This is our plan. It might even be surprising if he manages to win an indoor European Championship for the fourth time and a World Championship for the third time. The goals are very high, plus a strong result," Pomashki said.

"I would like to wish success to the Bulgarian athletes in the new year," he added.