Karalis takes European pole vault silver as Duplantis claims fourth outdoor title in Birmingham

Duel at the Alexander Stadium

The pole vault final at the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham developed into a two-man contest between Greece's Emmanouil Karalis and Sweden's Mondo Duplantis. Both athletes opened at 5.55m, clearing with evident ease, and chose to skip 5.70m, a height that troubled several other competitors in the field. They returned at 5.85m, where they were joined by France's Baptiste Thierry, and all three cleared without difficulty. At 5.95m, with four athletes still in the competition, Karalis produced a flawless first-attempt clearance. Thierry failed in three attempts, settling for bronze with a best of 5.85m. Another competitor, Baeré, also failed at 5.95m. From that point, only Karalis and Duplantis remained in contention for gold.

The 6.00m battle

The decisive phase began at 6.00m. Duplantis, who had skipped the preceding heights after 5.85m, missed his first attempt, momentarily leaving Karalis alone at the top of the standings. The Greek could not exploit the opening, also failing his first try at 6.00m when he passed underneath the bar. Both men regrouped and cleared on their second attempts, keeping the contest alive and sending the crowd at the Alexander Stadium into growing anticipation. The pair then bypassed 6.05m and moved directly to 6.10m. Duplantis sailed over on his first attempt, but Karalis, despite getting his entire body over the bar, caught it with his chest on the descent and knocked it down. The bar fell, and with it Karalis's first chance to apply pressure at the higher height.

Duplantis pulls clear

Duplantis then cleared 6.15m on his first attempt, setting a competition record, despite shaking the bar on the way over. Karalis failed at 6.15m and, needing a clearance to overtake the Swede, raised the bar to 6.20m. Duplantis chose to skip that height, confident in his leading position. Karalis needed a Greek outdoor record and personal best to claim gold, as his national outdoor record stood at 6.08m. Under the warm applause of the Birmingham crowd and the watching Duplantis, he attempted 6.20m but could not clear it, ending his challenge for gold.

Fourth European title for Duplantis

The victory gave Duplantis his fourth European outdoor pole vault title, adding to his wins in Berlin 2018, Munich 2022, Rome 2024, and now Birmingham 2026. The Swede, who holds the world record at 6.31m, extended his European outdoor title count to four. Karalis, meanwhile, collected his second consecutive European silver, having also finished second to Duplantis at the 2024 championships in Rome. The Greek champion's best clearance of 6.00m fell short of his national outdoor record target of 6.08m, but the performance confirmed his position as the leading European challenger to Duplantis.

Greece's second medal in Birmingham

Karalis's silver was Greece's second medal at the championships, following Miltos Tentoglou's gold in the long jump. The duel between Karalis and Duplantis drew warm reactions from the crowd at the Alexander Stadium, with the two athletes pushing each other through a series of increasingly demanding heights before the Swede's consistency at 6.10m and 6.15m proved decisive.