Armand Duplantis won a gripping pole vault battle with Emmanouil Karalis at the Diamond League meeting in Lausanne

Lausanne (AFP) - Pole vault world record holder Armand Duplantis edged a gripping battle with his Greek rival Emmanouil Karalis to win the Diamond League competition in Lausanne on Thursday with a jump of 6.21 metres.

Urged on by more than 5,000 delighted spectators, the double Olympic champion cleared his best mark of the season on his first attempt, just as he had with his previous five bars, while Karalis had to settle for 6.16m on his second try.

Never before had a second-place finisher jumped so high as both men broke the previous meet record of 6.15m.

“I’m tired but I feel really good, I feel really happy,” said Duplantis.

“That was such an amazing competition, everybody jumped so well, so I felt like I really had to step it up. I’m glad I jumped really well.”

After a final failed attempt by Karalis at 6.26m, Duplantis initially seemed to turn down the chance of improving his own world record for the 16th time before changing his mind.

It currently stands at 6.31m but his two attempts at 6.32m both ended in failure.

“That’s competition, that’s what we live for,” said Duplantis.

“I love to compete, I love competing against Manolo, especially when he is on his A-game like this.

“I just like to jump high. That’s what I feel like I was made to do.”

Karalis, who stayed to cheer on his rival’s attempts to break the world record, said he felt “blessed, and very proud, to represent this incredible era” of pole vaulting.

After winning the European silver, when he jumped 6.00m, the 26-year-old Greek said he was already dreaming of clearing 6.20m “and maybe more”.

“We’ll be competing in Silesia in a few days, so yes, I need to recover,” he said.

“I love Silesia, it’s where I cleared my first six-metre bar so I hope I can jump even higher.”

Australian Kurtis Marschall completed the podium. His jump of 5.91m put him alongside Norway’s Sondre Guttormsen and towering American Christopher Nilsen but with fewer fails in the competition, he took third spot.