Romania's Bitan wins men's long jump bronze at European Indoor Championships in Istanbul

Romanian Gabriel Bitan won the bronze medal in the men's long jump event on Sunday at the 2023 European Indoor Athletics Championships in Istanbul.

Bitan, who was also third in the qualifications (8.03 m), jumped 8 metres in the final, being outperformed in the final standings by Greek Miltiadis Tentoglou (8.30m), the reigning Olympic champion, and Sweden's Thobias Montler (8.19m), the best in the qualifications, according to agerpres.ro.

This is Bitan's personal best. He ranked 8th at the 2021 Indoor European Championships in Torun.

Bitan's bronze is Romania's second medal at the European Indoor Championships in Istanbul, after the silver won by Claudia Mihaela Bobocea on Saturday evening in the women's 1,500m.

This is the first time Romania wins a medal at the European indoor championships since 2015, when both Marian Oprea (men's triple jump) and Florentina Iusco (women's long jump) finished in the third place.

Romania has lined up 14 athletes, seven for the women's events and seven for the men's events, for the 2023 European Athletics Indoor Championships in Istanbul, March 2-5, where 593 athletes from 47 countries are competing, 301 in the men's and 292 in the women's events.