Reigning Olympic and European long jump champion Miltiadis Tentoglou from Greece is the latest star name to be confirmed for the Czech Indoor Gala in Ostrava on 3 February, a World Athletics Indoor Tour Silver meeting.
Tentoglou joins a cast which already includes fellow European indoor champion Ajla Del Ponte in the 60m, former European champion Bruno Hortelano from Spain in the 200m and Olympic finalist Liemarvin Bonevacia from the Netherlands in the 400m.
The Greek will face a particularly strong field which includes Thobias Montler from Sweden, the silver medallist behind Tentoglou at the 2019 and 2021 European Athletics Indoor Championships. Czech record-holder and last year’s winner Radek Juska also competes while non-European opposition is presented by Marquis Dendy from the United States but the Greek will start as the athlete to beat.
"This would be my third competition in the Ostrava Hall. I always win here so why not continue with this series? After the Olympic season another one is here and I want to continue to compete at the highest level. The Ostrava meeting is the starting point and a very important first competition on my way to the World Indoor Championships. Maybe it’s also time to improve the meeting record of 8.04m?" said Tentoglou.
Fellow European indoor champion Tomas Stanek from Czech Republic is also seeking his third victory in the shot put but the organisers have assembled a strong line-up to oppose the home favourite. Stanek takes on former European indoor champion Konrad Bukowiecki from Poland - himself a two-time winner at the Czech Indoor Gala and the meeting record-holder with 21.88m - and Italy’s Leonardo Fabbri.
“I am really looking forward to Ostrava every year and this year it is no different. I hope the situation will allow spectators to come to Ostrava; they are great and have always helped me to perform better. My preparation was successful and I will do my best to please the home fans with long attempts," said Stanek.
In the women’s pole vault, European indoor silver medallist Tina Sutej from Slovenia will also seek her third successive victory in Ostrava. A strong field will stand in her way including European indoor bronze medallist Iryna Zhuk from Belarus, former world champion Yarisley Silva from Cuba and reigning European U23 champion Amalie Svabikova from Czech Republic.
Elliot Giles, who clocked a sensational 1:43.63 indoor 800m last winter, steps up in distance to contest the 1500m while the women's 1500m line-up is headed by leading Czech runners Kriistina Maki, an Olympic finalist, and Diana Mezulianikova, Ethiopia's Axumawit Embaye and Great Britain's European 800m finalist Adelle Tracey.
The main programme of the Czech Indoor Gala will be broadcasted live from 5-7.00pm local time on the ČT Sport channel. Before that, the national programme will be streamed live from 2.00pm on the Czech Athletics Facebook page.