Greek athletics star Emmanouil Karalis has moved to second on the all-time indoor pole vault list after clearing 6.17 metres at the Greek Indoor Championships on Saturday.
The 26-year-old Paris 2024 Olympic bronze medallist improved on his previous personal best of 6.08m, clearing 6.07m on his first attempt before going over 6.17m on his second try “with daylight to spare.”
MANOOLLOOOOOOO🔥@FlyManoloFly becomes the 2nd best pole vaulter of all time after soaring to 6.17m at the Greek Indoor Championships 💥
— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) February 28, 2026
That’s a world lead and a massive 9cm improvement on his personal best 😮💨 pic.twitter.com/nJatKWl4UJ
The mark lifts him above Renaud Lavillenie, who cleared 6.16m in 2014, and leaves him behind only two-time Olympic champion Mondo Duplantis, whose indoor world record stands at 6.30m, set at the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo. Karalis won silver at that event with a 6.00m jump.
Buoyed by his breakthrough, Karalis asked for 6.31m in an attempt to claim the world record outright but was unsuccessful in two efforts.
He is next set to face Duplantis on 12 March in Uppsala, Sweden, ahead of the World Indoor Championships in Torun, Poland.
