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Duplantis into pole vault final at Euros / Photo: Ben STANSALL - AFP
Duplantis into pole vault final at Euros
Serial world record setter Armand 'Mondo' Duplantis needed just one effort Thursday to sail into the final of the men's pole vault at the European championships.
Seeking a fourth successive European title, the US-born Swede cleared 5.60 metres as a host of other rivals, notably Greece's perennial runner-up Emmanouil Karalis, also went through to Friday's final.
Duplantis was making his return to competition after a scare that saw him withdraw from the London Diamond League meet with a left thigh problem after clearing 5.95 metres.
The double Olympic and triple world champion has broken the world record 15 times, first with 6.17m back in 2020. His most recent mark was 6.31m in Sweden in March.
He has broken the world record at the Olympic Games, world outdoor and indoor championships, but never at a European championships.
In earlier qualifiers at the Alexander Stadium, the Italian quartet of Edoardo Scotti, Luca Sito, Mohamed Soudassi and Lorenzo Benati clocked a championship record of 2min 58.10sec in the men's 4x400m relay to win their semi-final.
That beat by 0.12sec the long-standing previous best set by a British team at the 1990 Split champs.
Z.Quintana--HdM
