World record potential, defending champions, Olympic and world gold medallists, intriguing match ups and high home hopes, the men’s jumps events at the Roma 2024 European Athletics Championships on 7-12 June have it all.
Back where it began for two-time champion Duplantis
World record hopes, of course, sit squarely on the shoulders of Armand Duplantis. Huge anticipation follows the pole vault icon in every competition. But far from being a weighty burden, the Swedish athlete possesses that rare ability to soar even higher regardless of pressure of expectation.
Already, he has broken the world record eight times, his latest being a clearance of 6.24m in the Diamond League, Xiamen, China in April (21), a record which he gave a scare in front of his fans on home soil in Stockholm on Sunday evening.
But he is equally adept at breaking the record in the championship environment, as he proved when clearing 6.20m at the 2022 World Athletics Indoor Championships in Belgrade and then 6.21m to win gold at the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Oregon.
He also has form in Rome, having cleared 6.15m at the 2020 Golden Gala in Rome, a height which was the world’s highest outdoor clearance at the time.
Duplantis will be going for his third successive gold at the European Athletics Championships, having won at Berlin 2018 and Munich 2022. Berlin marked Mondo’s first senior title and first six metre clearances, where he won with a whopping 6.05m, aged 18. Roma 2024 is the next step on one of the sport’s most remarkable careers.
“It was surreal. I can still remember every literal moment to this day. Definitely the most life-changing and career-changing competition that I have ever had, was in Berlin,” he told European Athletics when reflecting on those championships.
France’s Thibaut Collet is the next best on season’s best with 5.92m. His steady improvement saw him place fifth at last year’s World Athletics Championships in Budapest and a first senior international medal is a realistic possibility. And if he makes the podium in Rome, he will match the achievement of his coach and father Phillipe who won bronze in Stuttgart 1986 behind Sergey and Vasiliy Bubka.
Poland’s experienced Piotr Lisek is a proven championship performer with silver and two bronzes accrued from previous World Athletics Championships.
He has also won five medals at the European Indoor Championships, including gold in Belgrade 2017. Surprisingly, he is yet to win a medal at the European Athletics Championships and will be looking to correct that aberration at Roma 2024.
Other medal contenders in a wide-open field behind Duplantis include Germany's Bo Kanda Lita Baehre and Norway's Pal Haugen Lillefosse, the silver and bronze medallists respectively behind the Swede in 2022, along with Greece's European indoor silver medallist Emmanouil Karalis and the improving Turkish vaulter Ersu Sasma.
The men’s pole vault competition gets underway in the qualification on Monday 10 June, with the final on Wednesday 12 June, the last session of the championships.
Season's debut for Tamberi at home in Rome
There are few athletes able to electrify a stadium like Mondo but Gianmarco Tamberi is one of them. Not only is the Italian the defending Olympic, World and European gold medallist, he brings the showmanship to the competitive arena that fans love. His signature half-shaven, half-bearded look could even have an outing at Roma 2024.
And with a home crowd right behind him, it promises a special atmosphere for the men’s high jump competition. Qualification is on Sunday 9 June and the final on Tuesday 11 June. It should be noted that Tamberi has yet to compete this year - he was due to open his season in Ostrava but withdrew due to a slight discomfort in his knee - so it will be fascinating to see if he can launch his season with a gold medal.
Ukraine’s Oleh Doroshchuk cleared 2.30m indoors this year and is knocking on the door for a first senior medal. A silver medallist at European U23, U20 and U18 level, he was fourth at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Glasgow in March and at the Munich 2022 European Championships.
Reigning European indoor champion Douwe Amels of the Netherlands is another likely contender.
Tentoglou vs Furlani for long jump gold?
The men’s long jump has the potential to be one of the most exciting events of the whole championships. Greece’s Miltiadis Tentoglou is one of the most decorated and dominant athletes of the modern era.
He is the current Olympic, world, European, world indoor and European indoor champion and at 26, right at the peak of his powers.
Yet, the event is far from being a foregone conclusion. Italy’s Mattia Furlani is one the rising stars of the sport. Already a European U20 and U18 champion, he set a world U20 record of 8.36m this year, a mark that equals Tentoglou’s season’s best.
He won silver behind the Greek star at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Glasgow in March, finishing a mere one centimetre behind Tentoglou who retained his title. But with a partisan home crowd behind him, could the 19-year-old be propelled to his first senior title?
Switzerland’s Simon Ehammer can also never be discounted. A formidable competitor in the multi-events and the long jump, the decathlon silver medallist from Munich 2022 is channeling all his efforts towards the sand pit alone in Rome. And as a world bronze medallist in the long jump, he has the track record.
Another name who has emerged in the event this year is Filip Pravdica who recently set a new Croatian record of 8.35m. The competition gets underway on Friday 7 June with the qualifying rounds ahead of the final on Saturday 8 June.
After missing last summer’s World Athletics Championships, Portugal’s Pedro Pichardo will be looking to re-establish his authority over the men’s triple jump field. On his return from injury, the Olympic champion, 2022 world champion and defending European champion he is the man to beat. But will need to find his best form if he is to land another gold.
Jordan Díaz will be making his first international appearance for Spain since switching from Cuba and with a 17.55m leap last month in Castellon, Spain, he leads the 2024 European list to date. A former world U20 and world U18 champion, he is sure to be a big player on the senior stage into the future.
Germany’s Max Hess is a prolific medal winner and won gold at the Amsterdam 2016 European Athletics Championships and is likely to be in the mix along with Italian favourites Andrea Dallavalle, who won silver two years ago in Munich 2022, and Emmanuel Ihemeje, eighth and fifth respectively at the last two editions of the World Athletics Championships.
The qualifying rounds take place on Sunday 9 June and the final on Tuesday 11 June.
Chris Broadbent for European Athletics