The Albany Gazette - Tentoglou claims fourth Euro long jump title, injured Jacobs falters

Tentoglou, the double Olympic champion, came under pressure from Swiss athlete Simon Ehammer, but produced a winning 8.44 metres on his fourth attempt.

Tentoglou emulated Germany's Heike Drechsler who won four successive European women's long jump titles between 1986 and 1998.

"This was one of the hardest finals I have ever done," said Tentoglou. "I am good in all conditions but this wind was so hard on us long jumpers.

"Ehammer is a very strong guy and he was kind of OK with it. But for the other jumpers and me, it was incredibly difficult."

Tentoglou added: "I had to try so hard for this 8.44m jump. It is nothing for me usually but today it was so hard to do. This is one of my most precious victories because it is also a complex season for me. This is the start of winning golds again."

Like Tentoglou, Jacobs is a proven championship performer.

But the Tokyo Olympic gold medallist and firm favourite for the blue riband event fell short in his quest to win a third title and equal a feat only achieved by Ukrainian Valeriy Borzov (1969, 1971, 1974) and Britain's Linford Christie (1986, 1990, 1994).

The 31-year-old Italian suffered a terrible start and seemed to pull up halfway through the race before continuing to the finish line in a jog. He then walked off with a slight limp.

"I think my injury is serious because I felt something before the start when I tried the blocks," said Jacobs.

"Something pulled on my adductor so I know it was serious. In the blocks I tried to push at the limit but at 50m I felt something pull seriously.

"Now I will try to understand how serious this is and we will see about the rest of the season. I cannot control everything and this is a part of the sport."

- 'Total domination' -

With Jacobs out of contention, Jamaican-born Glave sealed victory in 10.09 seconds in a British 1-2 as world indoor 60m champion Jeremiah Azu claimed silver in 10.16sec.

Glave's victory came hot on the heels of Amy Hunt winning the women's 100m on Monday.

"It is domination. Total domination," said Glave.

Where Jacobs faltered, Nadia Battocletti remained resolute, the Italian striking with 200 metres to run to comfortably defend her 5,000m title in 15:37.84.

"It was a little crazy, we touched each other a lot during the race as it was very tactical," Battocletti said.

"I waited a little before going to push for the lead.When I was ahead, I was determined not to let go of the lead."

It is the latest accolade for Battocletti, who has gone on a medal spree since completing a 5,000/10,000m Euro double in Rome two years ago.

Since then, she has won two successive European cross country titles, European 10km road gold, Olympic and world 10,000m silver, world 5000m bronze and world indoor 3000m gold.

Spain's Marta García took silver in 15:39.98, with another Italian, Micol Majori, rounding out the podium.

Dutchwoman Nadine Visser claimed a thrilling victory in the 100m hurdles, edging Poland's Pia Skrzyszowska in a photo finish in 12.67sec.

A tight finish across the field saw France's Laetitia Bapte grab bronze ahead of Switzerland's reigning world champion Ditaji Kambundji.

Hungary's Olympic silver medallist Bence Halasz broke the Polish stranglehold on the European men's hammer throw, managing a world-leading 84.25m for victory.

It was Halasz's first gold after seven previous near-misses on the global stage.

Germany's Merlin Hummel claimed silver with 81.30m, Ukraine's Mykhaylo Kokhan taking bronze (79.49).

(M.Scott--TAG)