Greece’s golden boy Emmanouil Karalis walked on the podium again after a 6.05 meter jump in the World Indoor pole vault championships in Kujawy Pomorze, Poland, on Saturday.
This time the world champion, who jumped a spectacular 6.17 earlier this year, came second, losing to another world champion, Mondo Duplantis who cleared 6.25 meters.
Despite his efforts to even match his previous 6.17 achievement, Greece’s second greatest pole vaulter of all time did not manage to reach it. Karalis settled for the silver medal.
“I want to write my own history and achieve the world record,” he said on camera after the competition.
Twelve athletes competed in the World Indoor pole vault Championship:
1. Armand DUPLANTIS (SWE), 6.25 CR
2. Emmanouil KARALIS (GRE), 6.05
3. Kurtis MARSCHALL (AUS), 6.00 =PB
4. Sondre GUTTORMSEN (NOR), 5.95
5. Zachery BRADFORD (USA), 5.95
6. Baptiste THIERY (FRA), 5.85
7. Menno VLOON (NED), 5.85 SB
8. Thibaut COLLET (FRA), 5.85 =SB
9. Ernest John OBIENA (PHI), 5.70
9. Christopher NILSEN (USA), 5.70
11. Simen GUTTORMSEN (NOR), 5.70
12. David HOLÝ (CZE), 5.50
Karalis jumped 6.17 on March 1st
The Greek pole vault Olympian and European indoor champion became the second highest pole vaulter in history thanks to his incredible jump at the Greek Indoor Championships in Paiania, on the outskirts of Athens, on March 1st.
Karalis, Greece’s “Flying Manolo” as many fans call him, cleared an incredible 6.17-meter jump, having already cleared a world lead of 6.07-meters on his first attempt. This achievement once again broke the Greek indoor record for the great athlete.
The 6.17 meters that Karalis cleared that day was a height that had only ever been conquered by Sweden’s Armand Duplantis, a long-time friend and rival of Karalis.
In fact, that day Manolo tried to jump a spectacular 6.31 meters, to outstrip Duplantis of his 6.30 world record from the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, where Karalis won silver. The Greek pole vaulter didn’t manage this time, but he seems eager to achieve it some time later.
The rise to the top of a great athlete
Born on October 20, 1999, Emmanouil Karalis is the son of a Greek father from Pyrgos, and a Ugandan mother. He is a member of the athletics department of Olympiacos FCP. Every time he competes, he proves that the future belongs to him in high-level races and major athletic events.
His future is already in motion, having begun in 2025 with six consecutive Panhellenic records and carried forward to the conquest of the European summit. Yet, the bronze medal he won in the 2024 Summer Olympics is his most glorious achievement. The 2028 Summer Olympics will likely be his new pinnacle.