Emmanouil Karalis: “If I didn’t believe that I could break the world record, I wouldn’t attempt it”

Emmanouil Karalis out to beat Mondo Duplantis in Poland

Last year, Karalis had to settle for silver behind Duplantis at both the World Championships in Tokyo and World Indoor Championships in Nanjing.

But he is determined to beat his friend and rival in Poland, something he has only done once before, when he placed fifth and Duplantis seventh at the 2018 World Indoors.

“Every athlete here wants to win,” said Karalis, speaking at the Kujawy Pomorze 2026 pre-event press conference on Thursday (19 March). “Everyone competing wants to win gold.

“I also want to win, but my main goal is to do the best that I can. If I leave the arena and know I gave everything, I will be satisfied.

“But I believe in myself and my abilities to jump high. I know that I’m dangerous if I’m enjoying myself.

“You never know what’s going to happen. That’s why we are competing and why we have World Championships.”