Emmanouil Karalis Wins Silver for Greece in European Championships

Pole vaulter Emmanouil Karalis won silver for Greece on Sunday at the European Indoor Championships that took place in Istanbul.

The Greek champion came second in an ultra-tight competition that saw five men finish on a best of 5.80m.

Karalis was edged out of the gold medal by Norway’s Sondre Guttormsen, who helped his nation to top the medal table with four golds.

My 5.80 silver jump! 🥈🇬🇷 pic.twitter.com/3F6gyNHzOe

— Emmanuel Karalis (@FlyManoloFly) March 6, 2023

Karalis shared the silver with Piotr Lisek of Poland. Guttormsen won via a flawless series up to and including 5.80m, putting him in firm command as the bar moved to 5.85m, where no one was successful.

Karalis recorded just one failure before that, at 5.60m, while Lisek’s sole failure came at 5.70m.

Karalis, the son of a Greek father from Pyrgos, and a Ugandan mother, has the Greek pole vault record of 5.86m, set on Feb 18, 2023, in Athens, Greece.

The Greek champion narrowly missed a medal at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.

Manolo is pumped! 💪@FlyManoloFly 🇬🇷 was the only vaulter not to record a single failure in pole vault qualifying. 👌#Istanbul2023 pic.twitter.com/ezgyIZ1i3L

— European Athletics (@EuroAthletics) March 4, 2023

Earlier on Sunday Miltiadis (Miltos) Tentoglou claimed his third straight title at the European indoor championships with a long jump of 8.30m.

The Greek athlete became the first male long jumper to win three successive European indoor titles.

Tentoglou also won this title in 2019 and 2021 and is the reigning Olympic, European and world indoor champion.