Greek Emmanouil Karalis pushed Swedish-American Armand Duplantis to a jump of 6.25 metres. This has never happened before.
The World Indoor gold is Duplantis's fourth at the World Indoors and his 13th championship gold overall, both indoors and outdoors. The last time he missed out on a championship gold was in the World Championships final in Doha in 2019.
"It feels good. "Manolo" (Karalis) jumped really well. And yes, another gold, so I can't complain," says Duplantis.
“Heights I can fix”
Duplantis made six jumps in the competition and cleared all of them on the first attempt. Only the 6.25-metre jump had a wobble on the bar.
When Karalis cleared 6.00 metres, Duplantis had to attempt heights he normally wouldn't. The Greek has a personal best of 6.17 metres. Karalis settled for 6.05 metres after making one attempt at 6.20 and two attempts at 6.25.
"He jumped really well and then I had to raise my level. I know who I am, and when I jump well, 6.20 and 6.25 are heights I can clear," says Duplantis.
No world record attempt
"I pushed my friend today and put on a show for the audience. I'm happy to be a part of the history that was made here today," Karalis told the press on site in Toruń, and continued:
It's amazing to be part of this generation of pole vaulters.
Nine days ago, Duplantis set his latest world record, 6.31 metres, in his own competition in Uppsala. Before the World Indoors, he expected to try for a record at the event as well. It was in Toruń that he set his first world record, in February 2020.
But on Saturday night he made no attempt to break the record. He was too tired.
"There were quite a few jumps over six metres," he told SVT.
Born: November 10, 1999, in Lafayette, Louisiana, USA (age 26).
Event: Pole vault.
Club: Uppsala IF.
Selection of achievements: Olympic gold in 2024, 2021, World Championship gold in 2022, 2023, 2025, European Championship gold in 2018, 2022, 2024. Indoors: World Championship gold in 2022, 2024, 2025, 2026, European Championship gold in 2021. Set a world record - for the 15th time - when he cleared 6.31 metres in Uppsala.
