Nikos Andrikopoulos became the first Greek athlete to hang a medal around his neck at the European Indoor Championships in Istanbul, jumping 16.58 meters. in the triple jump, earning him second place on the winners’ podium.

In an event dominated by Portugal’s Pedro Pitsardo (gold medal, 17.60m, best result in 2023), Dimitris Vassilikos managed to take second place and add his first medal in a major event to his resume. In third place is the German Max Hess with a jump of 16.57 meters.

Andrikopoulos entered the competition with a jump of 16.20 m, was disqualified in the second and third jumps, “landed” on 15.91 m. finished fourth and finished fifth with a score of 16.58 m, which is his indoor record (at it was 16.39 m). At the same time, 26-year-old Stamatis Leni “caught” Stamatis Leni in sixth place all-time in the indoor track and field competition.

“I’m really very happy. I didn’t expect the fight to be like this. After the Panhellenic Championship, I found myself and felt confident. The qualification went very well and it gave me a boost for the next one. Today I was much more relaxed mentally and that, basically, it turned out that I was more comfortable without the weight of qualification, which for me is a more difficult race, ”said the Greek athlete.

“When you believe in something and try to achieve it every day, I believe that there comes a point when you will be rewarded. I’m very happy because I made a lot of efforts and today I got a very good result. I also had difficult times, but I always found something to do. Hope this is the start of something better. In the future, I want to participate in competitions and improve my performance, this is my goal.”

Dimitris Tsiamis jumped better at 16.39m and finished 7th.

Source: RES-IPE