Greek Kostas Philippidis wins gold in 5th Athens Street Pole Vault event

Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-02 04:25:35|Editor: huaxia
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ATHENS, June 1 (Xinhua) -- Greek athlete Kostas Philippidis won the 5th Athens Street Pole Vault event held in the center of the Greek capital on Thursday for a second consecutive year, the Hellenic Athletics Federation (SEGAS) announced.

The 30-year-old athlete cleared the bar at 5.70 meters, like in 2016, failing to break the event's record (5.83 meters) held by German Bjorn Otto since 2013.

However, he received a warm applause by hundreds of spectators who had flooded Syntagma square in front of the parliament building.

Filippidis, the 2014 world champion, had won the silver medal in Belgrade this March during the 2017 European Athletics Indoor Championships, with 5.85 meters.

"It was a good event. Now we focus on the next competitions to meet larger goals," the winner told Greek national news agency AMNA.

Greek athlete Emmanouil Karalis, 18, the European Youth champion last year, ranked second with 5.63 meters on Thursday.

"I am glad I made a new personal record outdoors. My next target is to be better in the European Youth Championship in Grossetto, Italy in July," Karalis said.

Karalis' personal best performance for Indoors is 5.70 meters.

Rasmus Joergensen from Denmark, 28, was third on Thursday in Athens with 5.56 meters. His personal record is 5.65 meters.

A dozen elite pole vault athletes from Greece, as well as some of the best athletes in Europe, participated in the outdoors event organized by SEGAS in cooperation with the Athens Municipality.

The Athens Street Pole Vault belongs to the Special Premium Meetings of the European Athletics Association. Enditem

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