This Sunday will forever be marked in history as the day a Greek athlete cleared 6.00 metres in the pole vault.

Emmanouil Karalis went above and beyond, breaking his own Panhellenic record by surpassing 6 metres, becoming the first Greek (and the 29th athlete in the world) to achieve this feat.

In recognition of his accomplishment, the Hellenic Athletics Federation (ΣΕΓΑΣ) presented 15 facts about the pole vaulter. The “six-metre stories,” as presented by the HAF, include:

“On the occasion of the historic 6.00m by Emmanouil Karalis in the Diamond League in Chorzow, Poland, we recorded 15 short stories that, on the one hand, connect the Greek champion with the competition, and on the other, reflect his superb year, which has firmly established him in the competition’s elite.

This was Karalis’ third Panhellenic record after clearing 5.92 in Bydgoszcz, Poland, on 20 June and 5.93 in Volos on 29 June at the Greek Athletics Championships. He also holds the Greek records in U18 (5.55), U20 (5.80), and U23 (5.80).

This year, he jumped over 5.90 four times (clearing 5.90 at the Paris Olympics in addition to the aforementioned efforts). Only Kostas Fillipidis had previously jumped over 5.90 (5.91).

The Diamond League in Chorzow marked Emmanouil’s fifth attempt to clear 6.00 metres, following his efforts in Rome, Volos, Paris, and Bydgoszcz. In the latter event, as in the European Athletics Championships in Rome, he attempted to surpass 6.02.

Ironically, it was only at the Greek Athletics Championships in Volos that he won by jumping 5.90 or more.

Twenty-nine athletes from 14 countries have cleared 6.00 metres at least once. Nine of them are active. Of the 29 in total, seven are American, five are Russian, three are Australian, three are German, two are French, and there is one each from Sweden, Ukraine, South Africa, Brazil, Poland, Canada, Norway, the Philippines, and now Greece.

These 29 athletes have recorded 118 jumps over 6.00 metres, with 42 achieved by Armand Duplantis and 28 by Sergey Bubka. Another 76 jumps have been recorded in indoor events, with 22 by Duplantis, 16 by Bubka, and 15 by Renaud Lavillenie, who also counts four jumps in outdoor events. These three athletes are the only ones who have jumped over 6.08 metres.

Karalis is now the 15th European to break the historic barrier.

One of the Europeans who has passed 6.00 metres is the Polish athlete Piotr Lisek, who is part of the group with which Karalis trains when he is in Poland, under the guidance of Marcin Szczepański. Lisek has notably jumped 6.02 metres. Is Emmanouil’s new goal to beat the group’s record?

To fuel Emmanouil’s ‘feud’ with Miltos Tentoglou, it is worth noting that, according to World Athletics tables, 6.00 metres corresponds to 1,267 points compared to the 1,281 points of Miltos’ 8.65m jump. However, both performances give 1,231 points in the decathlon.

Emmanouil remarked that he proved that black athletes can also jump over 6.00 metres, a statement that corresponds to reality. For the record, American Lawrence Johnson, who jumped 5.98 metres in 1996, came closest before Emmanouil. Others who have cleared 5.90 include German Raphael Holzdeppe (5.94 in 2015), Cuban Lazaro Borges in 2011, and German Bo Kanda Lita Baehre in 2022 (both 5.90 metres).

For the first time ever, an athlete passed 6.00 metres and finished in third place. In eight events, two pole vaulters have cleared 6.00 metres in the same event. The highest non-winning jump was Sam Kendricks’ 6.02 metres in Lausanne in 2020 (Duplantis’ 6.07).

The 6.00 metre barrier was first broken internationally on 13 July 1985 in Paris by Sergey Bubka.

Within two years, Emmanouil won a medal at the Olympic Games (bronze), the European Athletics Championships (silver), the World Athletics Indoor Championships (bronze), and the European Athletics Indoor Championships (second place). The only title missing is from the World Athletics Championships, an event where he failed to make the final in his first two attempts. The event will be held in Tokyo in 2025, where he will attempt to complete his collection.

In an interview on the HAF website, Emmanouil Karalis was asked, “Olympic medal or 6.00 metres?”

“The 6.00m barrier is a burning desire for all top pole vaulters; however, the Olympic medal is something incomparable and is the ultimate goal for all.

The way I see it, I want to clear six metres first before the two big events, and then aim for the medals. If I had to choose between an Olympic medal or clearing six metres, I would definitely choose the medal. In any case, my first goal is to break the Panhellenic record of Kostas Filippidis and then continue to surpass other milestones as well.’

Six metres is roughly the height of a giraffe.”