Emmanouil Karalis and Sondre Guttormsen both achieved clearances of 6.06m at the Perche Elite Tour in Rouen, continuing a historic season for men's pole vault. Karalis secured victory on countback, while Guttormsen improved his Norwegian record. The event marked the best second-place mark ever in the discipline.
The Perche Elite Tour in Rouen, part of the World Athletics Indoor Tour Silver series, saw impressive performances in the men's pole vault on March 7, 2026. Greek athlete Emmanouil Karalis, who recently cleared 6.17m at the Greek Indoor Championships, opened with a first-time clearance at 5.70m. He passed at 5.90m before succeeding on his first attempt at the meeting record of 6.06m. Karalis then attempted 6.20m three times, coming close but failing to clear it.
Norway's Sondre Guttormsen required two attempts each at 5.70m, 5.90m, and 6.00m—the latter equalling his previous national record set during his 2023 NCAA indoor title win in Albuquerque. He cleared 6.06m on his third try, improving his Norwegian record by six centimetres and joining the world all-time list at sixth place. This result established the highest mark ever for second place, surpassing Karalis's 6.05m silver from the previous year's World Indoor Championships in Nanjing.
The season has now seen a record six athletes exceed six metres. Karalis ranks second on the all-time list behind Mondo Duplantis. Both competitors are scheduled to face Duplantis at the Mondo Classic in Uppsala on March 12 and the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Kujawy Pomorze later in the month.
In the women's event, Great Britain's Molly Caudery, the 2024 world indoor champion, won by clearing 4.70m on her first attempt, edging out Slovenia's Tina Šutej on countback after both succeeded at that height.
