This year Emmanouil Karalis has already confirmed himself as the second-best pole vaulter in history, a place he earned when the Greek cleared 6.17m in February.
But here are 10 things you may not know about Karalis:
Mixed heritage
Karalis was born and raised in Athens, but a key part of his identity is that he is of mixed heritage.
His dad, Charalampos, is Greek while his mother, Sara, is originally from Uganda.
Defied the odds of racism
As a young boy growing up in Athens, Greece, Karalis was the subject to racist abuse and didn’t have any black Greek athletes he could look up to.
He was even told when he started athletics that “black people don’t pole vault” but that didn’t stop him from following his love.
Family of athletes
A love for athletics was instilled in Karalis since he was very young as his parents were both athletes themselves.
His mother was a long jumper as a young athlete, while his dad was a decathlete, but it doesn’t end there as Karalis’ twin sister, Angeliki, also picked up the sport and competed in the heptathlon.
Others success is fuel
Some athletes see their rivals as simply that, rivals, but Karalis has a great friendship with many of his competitors, and is particularly motivated by Mondo Duplantis and Sam Kendricks.
“It's always amazing, because we have known each other for so long, and it's always nice to be able to compete with the guys that we've been competing with for so many years, and they're now the best vaulters ever. They keep pushing me to jump even higher,” Karalis told the Olympics before he cleared 6.17m.
“I feel blessed, I feel very proud that I'm able to be in this era with Mondo and all these guys. It's the best era of pole vaulting right now. I feel honoured to be a part of this history.”
Coached by his dad
(Karalis' dad is second from right)
Karalis’ dad had hopes of his son following in his footsteps with the decathlon, and so started with the most technical event, pole vault.
But Karalis fell in love with the first event and stuck with it. Since he has expanded his coaching team to also include Marcin Szczepanski and George Pomaski, who also coaches two-time Olympic long jump champion Mitildas Tentoglou.
Greek history
Six metres is the magical mark in pole vault, and Karalis is one of just 24 people to have cleared that height.
But he was also the first Greek to clear six metres when he jumped it for the first time at the 2024 Silesia Diamond League just 20 days after placing third at the Olympics.
Family rivalry
While six metres is the international magical mark, in 2015 Karalis surpassed his own family milestone.
He cleared his dad’s pole vault PB, 4.85m, for the first time and told BBC that he jested with his father after that he is the “boss” now.
Nearly quitting the sport
Karalis revealed to BBC that due to a mix of injuries and racism that caused him to suffer with depression, he nearly left the sport.
He took six months out, but his friends and family got him to fall back in love with the sport and supported him to where he is now as he thrives in the spotlight.
Home of the Olympics
The Olympics is special to all athletes, but for Greeks it has that additional meaning and so when the competition returned to Athens in 2004, locals scrambled to watch in person.
In the stands amongst the thousands, was Karalis. Just four years old, but at his first Olympics blissfully unaware of what his future held.
Golf key to recovery
Recovery is a crucial part of an athlete’s performance that could often be overlooked by fans of the sport, and for Karalis he recovers by playing golf.
He enjoys winding down with a quick 18 holes, well and a glass of wine.