Duplantis wins fourth consecutive European pole vault title with 6.15m championship record in Birmingham
Swedish pole vaulter Armand Duplantis cleared 6.15m to win his fourth consecutive European title at Alexander Stadium in Birmingham, setting a championship record but declining a world record attempt on a cool, crosswind-affected evening.
Pole vault final
Armand Duplantis won his fourth consecutive European pole vault title on Sunday evening at Alexander Stadium in Birmingham, clearing 6.15m to set a new championship record. The 26-year-old Swede, a two-time Olympic champion (2021 and 2024) and seven-time world champion, went 5 centimeters higher than his previous championship best from 2024. Crosswinds and cool temperatures made conditions difficult; even Duplantis failed his first attempt at 6m.
Greek vaulter Emmanouil Karalis took silver with a second-time clearance at 6.00m. Duplantis and Karalis battled to the 6.10m bar, which the Swede cleared on his first attempt while Karalis failed. The same pattern repeated at 6.15m. Karalis then attempted 6.20m but failed. France's Baptiste Thiery took bronze at 5.85m, earning his first international medal at age 25 and the 11th for France at these championships.
- Duplantis (GOLD)
- 6.15 m
- Karalis (SILVER)
- 6 m
- Thiery (BRONZE)
- 5.85 m
- Collet (4th)
- 5.7 m
- Thiery clears for bronze; Duplantis fails first attempt at 6m
- Karalis clears on second attempt for silver
- Duplantis clears first attempt; Karalis fails
- Duplantis clears first attempt for championship record; Karalis fails
- Karalis fails all attempts; competition ends
- Duplantis declines world record attempt and ends his competition
No world record attempt
The Alexander Stadium crowd expected a world record attempt, but Duplantis waved to the public and cameras before packing up, ending his competition. His world record stands at 6.31m. The New York Times reports he first set a world record in 2020 and has broken it 14 times since.
This was Duplantis's 12th consecutive gold medal, and seven of those have come with either a championship or world record. The season has been challenging by his standards: he lost for the first time in three years at the Stockholm Diamond League in June, finishing second at 5.80m, and did not finish at the Diamond League in London in mid-July due to a thigh injury sustained during competition.
Thiery and Collet for France
Baptiste Thiery's bronze caps a season in which he improved his personal best to 5.93m at the Paris meeting in late June. The 25-year-old former decathlete expressed satisfaction with his progress.
Overall I've broken barriers, I've crossed thresholds, I feel it technically and physically.
He said he hopes to normalize 6m heights in the near future. Fellow French vaulter Mathieu Collet, 31, finished fourth at 5.70m in his first international final. Belgium's Ben Broeders finished 8th and Ylio Philtjens 10th; both cleared 5.70m but missed all three attempts at 5.85m, the Belgian record.
Mixed relay and sprint milestones
On the seventh and final night of competition, Great Britain won the inaugural mixed 4x100m relay in a European record time of 39.97 seconds. Amy Hunt anchored the team, producing the best split among final-leg runners, to claim her fourth gold medal of the championships, the most by anyone at a single edition.
It's so beyond the bounds of my dreams, I'm so euphoric right now.
Hunt also won the 4x100m gold and individual 100m and 200m titles. Dina Asher-Smith, who ran the fastest split among second-leg athletes, earned her eighth continental gold, the most by anyone in the history of the championships, overtaking Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Sandra Elkasevic, who each have seven.
What's next
Duplantis is expected to compete at the Memorial of Kamila Skolimowska in Chorzow on 23 August. He is then widely expected to attempt a world record at the Ultimate in Budapest in mid-September, the new competition created by the international federation to boost declining audiences.
