Weekly Recap: Emmanouil Karalis Jumps 6.17m, Ajayi Runs 6.45s

The USA Indoor Track and Field Championships, NCAA conference championships, and many National Championships across Europe took place over the weekend as athletes made one last push to qualify for the World Indoor Championships being held in Toruń, Poland, in a couple of weeks.

The biggest story over the weekend came from the men’s pole vault, where Emmanouil Karalis solidified himself as a serious threat to Mondo Duplantis in their future head-to-heads with a 6.17-meter clearance, moving him into number two all-time.

Let’s take a deeper look at his performance as well as the other top performances across the world this week.

The Oval Update Athlete of the Week: Emmanouil Karalis

Emmanouil Karalis has established himself as one of the world’s top pole vaulters, solidifying this with an Olympic bronze medal in 2024 and a fourth-place finish three years before.

The media cycle over the past few years has largely centered around Duplantis and when and by how much he might break the world record. He’s been so dominant for so long that sometimes it can feel like he’s unbeatable. In fact, his last time not winning a competition was mid-summer 2023.

It’s in this period of dominance that Karalis has risen relatively quietly, at least to those who don’t closely follow the pole vault closely, up the all-time rankings in the event. His latest personal best of 6.17 meters this weekend came at the Greek Indoor Championships.

Six years ago, we saw Duplantis throw his hands in the air and run around the track when he cleared this height to set a new world record.  

It may not be a world record this time, but the seemingly always smiling Karalis had a similar reaction, cupping his hands over his mouth and running to hug his coach after the massive nine-centimeter personal best that seems to leave room for more.

His recent performance moves him ahead of the two vaulters between him and Duplantis in the all-time rankings, the legendary Sergey Bubka and Renaud Lavillenie, the former world record holder.

Kayinsola Ajayi Runs 6.45s, and Other Sprints Results

In the men’s 60-meter, Kayinsola Ajayi ran 6.45 seconds at the Southeastern Conference Indoor Track & Field Championship over the weekend for the second fastest time of the year, only behind Jordan Anthony’s world-leading time of 6.43 seconds. The mark also ties the African record in the event. The 21-year-old Auburn Tiger will be looking to build upon his sixth-place finish at the World Athletics Championships this past summer.

Elsewhere in the world, Malachi Snow and Kishane Thompson both posted 6.46 seconds to tie for the third fastest time this year.

In the women’s 200-meter, defending World U20 Champion in the event, Adeejah Hodge ran the fastest time of the year so far with 22.32 seconds at the Southeastern Conference Indoor Track & Field Championship.

Garrett Kaalund also ran a world-leading time on the men’s side with 20.06 seconds. The time ranks him number three all-time in the event. The only person to ever break 20 seconds indoors is Frank Fredericks, with his time of 19.92 seconds coming from all the way back in 1996.

Overseas, the Netherlands’ Nadine Visser ran the second fastest time this year over 60 meters with 7.78 seconds at the Dutch Indoor Championships, tying Ditaji Kambundji and Pia Skrzyszowska. Devynne Charlton holds the world lead with 7.77 seconds.

On the men’s side, Dylan Beard tied Trey Cunningham for the world lead with 7.37 seconds and took home his first National Indoor title for the United States.  

Distance Results from This Week

Miles Brown ran 1:14.67 in the men’s 600-meter to win the Big 10 Championships. This is the second fastest time in the world this year at this distance, behind 17-year-old Cooper Lutkenhaus’ time of 1:14.15. It also sets a new NCAA record in the event.

In the women’s 5,000-meter, Arkansas’ Sydney Vaught ran 15:02.52 for the third time in the world this year, winning the SEC Conference Championship.

Topič Clears 2.00m, and other Field Results.

World Athletics Championship bronze medalist Angelina Topič cleared 2.00 meters for the first time in Slovakia to set a personal best by two centimeters and set a new Serbian national record. The jump moves her into sole possession of the second-highest jump of the year behind Yaroslava Mahuchikh, the world record holder.

Many of the top male high jumpers also lined up in Slovakia earlier this week. Czech jumper Jan Štefela jumped 2.32 meters to take over the number two spot in the world, only one centimeter back of Russia’s Danil Lysenko. At the same competition in Slovakia, Tomohiro Shinno and Sanghyeok Woo both cleared 2.30 meters. Oleh Doroshchuk and Christian Falocchi cleared this height in Ukraine and Italy, respectively.

Along with Emmanouil Karalis’s clearance of 6.17 meters in the men’s pole vault, Zachery Bradford also broke the six-meter barrier, clearing 6.01 meters at the USA Indoor Championships.

In the men’s triple jump, Brazil’s Elton Petronilho went 17.05 meters in the triple jump at the South American Indoor Championships. In Italy, World silver medalist Andrea Dallavalle jumped just shy of 17 meters in Ancona with 16.99 meters, ahead of Olympic bronze medalist Andy Diaz (16.90m). France’s Jonathan Seremes also jumped 16.96m in his home country.

In the shot put over the weekend, Chase Jackson had the second farthest throw this year with 20.44 meters to win the USA Indoor Championships. Olympic Champion Yemisi Ogunleye threw the farthest this year, 20.37 meters.