Emmanouil Karalis emerges as first true threat to Mondo Duplantis’ dominance in pole vault

Emmanouil Karalis competes in the men's pole vault during the Diamond League meet in Zurich on Thursday. | AFP-JIJI

Aug 30, 2026

Olympic and world champion Mondo Duplantis has broken the pole vault world record 15 times and utterly dominated the event, but Greece’s Emmanouil Karalis has now emerged as a real challenger having found the courage to go toe-to-toe with the Swede.

The pole vault has had a familiar feel in recent years. Duplantis wins the competition before going after his own world record, but there are signs that his one-man era could be at an end.

At Thursday’s Zurich Diamond League, Karalis and Duplantis both attempted to beat the world record for the first time in the same competition.

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