Overview
- Duplantis won the men’s pole vault at the Zurich Diamond League with a 6.25m clearance while Emmanouil Karalis finished second with a new Greek record of 6.20m and both failed at a 6.32m world-record attempt.
- Karalis moved through the early heights without a miss, clearing 5.80m through 6.10m on his first tries before electing to jump 6.20m and set his national best.
- Both athletes pushed the competition to uncommon heights by attempting 6.32m, with Karalis coming especially close on his second try and Duplantis nearly clearing it on his final attempt.
- Zurich was a high-performance night across the meet with multiple headline records, including Alison dos Santos lowering the men’s 400m hurdles world mark and Masai Russell breaking the women’s 100m hurdles world record.
- The result sharpens the season’s narrative: Duplantis remains the dominant champion but Karalis has closed the gap, a change that could alter tactics and pressure going into the Diamond League final in Brussels and the World Athletics Ultimate Championships in Budapest.