World record holder Armand Duplantis returned to competition for the first time since last September and shook off the rust in his own inimitable way with a world lead at the ISTAF Indoor meeting in Berlin on Friday (14).
Making his return on Valentine’s Day, the Swedish pole vault icon got the 12,000-strong crowd’s hearts fluttering with a superb 6.10m clearance at the second attempt, for a new meeting record at the World Indoor Tour silver event.
He also had two attempts at a world record height of 6.27m before settling for victory. No doubt, there will be plenty more record attempts to come in 2025 for the Olympic, world and European champion who re-set the world record on three occasions last year.
In a top class competition, Greece’s Olympic bronze medallist Emmanouil Karalis placed second in a national indoor record of 5.94m.
Gussman spints to European U23 record
Elsewhere, Germany’s Heiko Gussmann twice equalled the European U23 men’s 60m record of 6.57 in the heats and final. It puts him alongside team-mate Chidiera Onuoha who set the new best five days earlier in Dusseldorf.
In the women’s shot put, Olympic champion Yemisi Ogunleye of Germany continued her build up to the Apeldoorn 2025 European Athletics Indoor Championships with victory with a fifth round 19.42m.
Defending European indoor champion Jason Joseph of Switzerland won the men’s 60m hurdles in 7.63, ahead of former Olympic champion Jamaican Omar McLeod of Jamaica in 7.65.
Chris Broadbent for European Athletics
