Emmanouil Karalis

Greek star Emmanouil Karalis won bronze in the pole vault final of the Paris Olympics on Monday night.

The son of a Greek father from Pyrgos, and a Ugandan mother, he won the silver medal at the 2019 and 2021 European Athletics U23 Championships and placed fourth at the 2020 Summer Olympics.  

This marks the 6th medal for the Greek delegation (the first in track and field) at the Paris Olympic Games, with the remarkable Emmanouil Karalis earning the bronze medal, a significant personal achievement.

Many members of the Greek track and field delegation had left earlier for France to complete the final stage of their preparation for the Olympic Games.

This was the reason they missed the opening ceremony, but today at noon, they also made their appearance at the Olympic Village.

The Greek delegation made its traditional entrance at the Olympic Games opening ceremony with flag bearers Giannis Antetokounmpo and Antigoni Drisbioti.

Greece's Emmanouil Karalis celebrates after the men's pole vault final at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Glasgow, where he won bronze with a jump of 5.85m. Sweden's Armand 'Mondo' Duplantis successfully defended his world indoor pole vault title with a best clearance of 6.05m, while American Sam Kendricks secured silver with a best performance of 5.90m. [Reuters]

Greek pole-vault champion Kostas Filippidis improved his own national record to win silver at the European Indoor Championships in Belgrade on Friday.

Filippidis cleared 5.85 meters, matching his two Polish rivals who finished first and third on a different number of efforts in the final.

His previous national record was 5.84 m. from February 2016.

Greek athlete Emmanouil Karalis aged 16 broke the world record in indoor pole vault during a sports event held at Athens’ Peace and Friendship Stadium on Saturday, with 5.53 meters in his first attempt.

With his jump, Karalis topped the performance of Argentine pole vaulter Germán Chiaraviglio who achieved 5.51 meters in 2004.