ROME, ITALY, June 07–12 — Reminiscent of the ’22 Worlds, Mondo Duplantis was the very last athlete in action after 6 days in Rome — the European Championships returning to the Italian capital after a half-century hiatus. The Louisiana-born Swede kept the eyes of an estimated 18,000 crowd glued to the PV runway even though the clock was edging towards midnight.
In Eugene just under two years ago, he went clear at what was then a 20-4½ (6.21) WR, subsequently improved upon on three occasions in the last 23 months, and in Rome he so very nearly added to his tally of WRs, which currently come in at 8, with his first attempt at 20-6 (6.25).
With more than a few inches to spare at his apex, Duplantis just nudged off the bar with his chest on the way down. It was the best of his three attempts at the WR height but showed that his current mark of 20-5½ (6.24) may not last the summer.
In the end, his winning 20-0 (6.10) clearance — worth a €50,000 ($54,000) performance bonus at the first Euros ever to have prize money — with Mondo flawless up to that height after also jumping 18-6½ (5.65), 19-1 (5.82), 19-5 (5.92), 19-7 (5.97) at the first time of asking, was a CR and his sixtieth competition jumping 6.00m or more.
“The main goal was to go out there and to win, take home my third gold. I am very satisfied with the height; I did not really think I was attempting the WR today. It was not part of the plan. After the 6.10, there was just too much energy still there. I looked at my parents [and coaches Greg and Helena Duplantis] and we both had the same idea. We were like, ‘It is just fun, so why not?‘ I can’t complain,” joked Duplantis.
A distant 2nd was Greece’s Emmanouíl Karalís, who PRed at 19-3 (5.87), giving Mondo a record margin of victory in a Euros PV.
The innovative raised horizontal jumps runway 6ft above the ground down the backstraight saw some stunning long- and triple jump performances as well.
Former Cubans Jordan Díaz, recently cleared to represent Spain, and Portugal’s reigning Olympic champ and ’22 WC winner Pedro Pichardo had a magnificent head-to-head TJ contest which saw two men go over 18 meters in the same competition for only the second time in history, after the ’15 Doha DL.
Pichardo opened with 57-5½ (17.51) to which Díaz replied with 57-7½ (17.56). In the second stanza, the former uncorked a 59-2¼ (18.04) NR although Pichardo has jumped 59-4 (18.08) back in ’15 when wearing Cuba’s colors.
Díaz closed the gap with 58-11¼ (17.96) in the fourth round before bounding out to a massive 59-7¾ (18.18) meet record with his penultimate jump. The leap moved him up to No. 3 on the all-time list behind Jonathan Edwards and Christian Taylor.
However, Pichardo didn’t throw in the towel and still finished with 58-9½ (17.92), meaning that both men had four efforts of 17-and-a-half meters or more in their series.
“Seeing Pichardo jumping 18m was a motivation to jump even further because nobody came to these championships to finish 2nd or 3rd,” Díaz said. “[Before] I thought it was almost impossible to jump 18 meters but now that I did it, I feel that nothing is impossible.”
Earlier in the Champs, Greece’s reigning world and Olympic champ Miltiádis Tentóglou took his third consecutive continental crown with a similarly illustrious series, cutting the sand on both of his last two attempts at 28-4½ (8.65).
Behind him, Italy’s prodigious teenage talent Mattia Furlani improved his own World U20 Record to 27-6 (8.38) on his opening jump.
However, the biggest cheers of the Champs were reserved for local high jump hero Gianmarco Tamberi, who showed his fitness issues of recent months are well behind him.
In his first meet of ’24, “Gimbo” as he’s known in Italy clinched the win by going clear first time at 7-7 (2.31), following a few nervous minutes for himself and the adoring crowd when he needed three tries at 7-6 (2.29) before going clear. He then emphasized his superiority by flying over 7-8 (2.34) to equal the outdoor world lead and then a 7-9¼ (2.37) MR on his first attempt.
The pick of the track performances was a 44.15 win in the 400 by Belgium’s Alexander Doom, the second-fastest time ever by a European.
Jakob Ingebrigtsen — with his British rival Josh Kerr giving the Champs a miss to focus on Paris — made light work of a 1500 and 5000 double, almost toying with his rivals in both finals.
The Norwegian won the 5000, a straight final on the second day, in a leisurely 13:20.11 after hitting the front just after the bell and then going through the gears to shake off any remaining challengers.
By contrast, in the 1500 final on the last day he took the lead with just over two laps to go and then kept the tempo high before moving away from the tiring pack to win in 3:31.95, a meet record and an almost routine time for him these days.
Another meet record in the men’s events fell to Ingebrigtsen’s compatriot Karsten Warholm who won the 400H in 46.98, the eleventh time in his career he has gone under 47 seconds.
Big man Lorenzo Fabbri also gave notice that Ryan Crouser and Joe Kovacs will not have proceedings entirely to themselves come Paris. The Italian took a comfortable shot win in 74-7¾ (22.75), one of 11 golds for the medal table-topping host nation.
EURO CHAMPS MEN’S MEDALISTS
100(0.7): 1. Lamont Marcell Jacobs (Ita) 10.02; 2. Chituru Ali (Ita) 10.05 PR; 3. Romell Glave (GB) 10.06.
200(0.8): 1. Timothé Mumenthaler (Swi) 20.28 PR; 2. Filippo Tortu (Ita) 20.41; 3. William Reais (Swi) 20.47.
400: 1. Alexander Doom (Bel) 44.15 NR; 2. Charlie Dobson (GB) 44.38 PR; 3. Liemarvin Bonevacia (Neth) 44.88..
800: 1. Gabriel Tual (Fra) 1:44.87; 2. Mohamed Attaoui (Spa) 1:45.20; 3. Catalin Tecuceanu (Ita) 1:45.40.
1500: 1. Jakob Ingebrigtsen (Nor) 3:31.95; 2. Jochem Vermeulen (Bel) 3:33.30 PR; 3. Pietro Arese (Ita) 3:33.34.
St: 1. Alexis Miellet (Fra) 8:14.01 PR; 2. Djilali Bedrani (Fra) 8:14.36; 3. Karl Bebendorf (Ger) 8:14.41 PR.
5000: 1. Ingebrigtsen 13:20.11; 2. George Mills (GB) 13:21.38; 3. Dominic Lobalu (Swi) 13:21.61.
10,000: 1. Lokinyomo Lobalu 28:00.32; 2. Yann Schrub (Fra) 28:00.48; 3. Thierry Ndikumwenayo (Spa) 28:00.96.
110H(0.6): 1. Lorenzo Ndele Simonelli (Ita) 13.05 NR; 2. Enrique Llopis (Spa) 13.16 PR; 3. Jason Joseph (Swi) 13.43.
400H: 1. Karsten Warholm (Nor) 46.98; 2. Alessandro Sibilio (Ita) 47.50 NR; 3. Carl Bengtström (Swe) 47.94 NR.
HMar: 1. Yemaneberhan Crippa (Ita) 1:01:03; 2. Pietro Riva (Ita) 1:01:04; 3. Amanal Petros (Ger) 1:01:07.
20W: 1. Perseus Karlström (Swe) 1:19:13; 2. Paul McGrath (Spa) 1:19:31; 3. Francesco Fortunato (Ita) 1:19:54.
4 x 100: 1. Italy 37.82; 2. Netherlands 38.46; 3. Germany 38.52.
4 x 400: 1. Belgium 2:59.84 (Sacoor 45.00, Vanderbemden 45.92, Borlée 45.04, Doom 43.88); 2. Italy 3:00.81 (Sito 45.13, Aceti 45.35, Meli 45.87, Scotti 44.46); 3. Germany 3:00.82 (Sanders 45.90, Bredau 45.10, Koch 45.78, Agyekum 44.04).
Field Events
HJ: 1. Gianmarco Tamberi (Ita) 7-9¼ (2.37) (WL) (7-3¼, 7-5 [2], 7-6 [3], 7-7, 7-7¾ [xx], 7-8, 7-9¼) (2.22, 2.26 [2], 2.29 [3], 2.31, 2.33 [xx], 2.34, 2.37);
2. Vladyslav Lavskyy (Ukr) 7-6 (2.29) =PR; 3. Oleh Doroshchuk (Ukr) 7-5 (2.26).
PV: 1. Mondo Duplantis (Swe) 20-0 (6.10) (18-6½, 19-1, 19-5, 19-7, 20-0, 20-6 [xxx]) (5.65, 5.82, 5.92, 5.97, 6.10, 6.25 [xxx]); 2. Emmanouíl Karalís (Gre) 19-3 (5.87) PR; 3. tie, Oleg Zernikel (Ger) & Ersu Şaşma (Tur) 19-1 (5.82).
LJ: 1. Miltiádis Tentóglou (Gre) 28-4½ (8.65) (WL) PR (27-7½, f, 27-10¼, 27-8¾, 28-4½, 28-4½) (8.42, f, 8.49, 8.45, 8.65, 8.65);
2. Mattia Furlani (Ita) 27-6 (8.38) WJR (old WJR 27-5¼/8.36 Furlani on May 15) (27-6, f, 26-3, 21-8, f, f) (8.38, f, 8.00, 6.60, f, f);
3. Simon Ehammer (Swi) 27-3¼ (8.31).
Qual: Ehammer 27-7¼ (8.41) (WL).
TJ: 1. Jordan Díaz (Spa) 59-7¾ (18.18) NR (WL) (3, 3 W) (57-7½, 58-5¾, f, 58-11¼, 59-7¾, p) (17.56, 17.82, f, 17.96, 18.18, p);
2. Pedro Pichardo (Por) 59-2¼ (18.04) NR (57-5½, 59-2¼, 57-7, p, 57-3¾, 58-9½) (17.51, 18.04, 17.55, p, 17.47, 17.92); 3. Thomas Gogois (Fra) 57-¼ (17.38) PR.
SP: 1. Leonardo Fabbri (Ita) 73-8 (22.45) (67-0, 72-7, f, f, 73-8, 71-11½) (20.42, 22.12, f, f, 22.45, 21.93); 2. Filip Mihaljević (Cro) 69-6¾ (21.20); 3. Michał Haratyk (Pol) 68-8½ (20.94).
DT: 1. Kristjan Čeh (Slo) 223-4 (68.08); 2. Lukas Weißhaidinger (Aut) 222-1 (67.70); 3. Mykolas Alekna (Lit) 221-5 (67.48).
HT: 1. Wojciech Nowicki (Pol) 265-7 (80.95); 2. Bence Halász (Hun) 264-1 (80.49); 3. Mykhaylo Kokhan (Ukr) 263-1 (80.18).
JT: 1. Jakub Vadlejch (CzR) 290-10 (88.65) (266-7, 260-7, 277-9, 273-7, 260-8, 290-10) (81.26, 79.44, 84.66, 83.40, 79.47, 88.65); 2. Julian Weber (Ger) 281-11 (85.94); 3. Oliver Helander (Fin) 281-4 (85.75).
Dec: 1. Johannes Erm (Est) 8764 PR; 2. Sander Aae Skotheim (Nor) 8635 NR; 3. Makenson Gletty (Fra) 8606 PR;… 5. Kevin Mayer (Fra) 8476.