Birmingham (United Kingdom) (AFP) - Sweden’s Armand ‘Mondo’ Duplantis delivered another slick masterclass in pole vaulting to claim a fourth European title in Birmingham on Sunday.

Duplantis saw off Greek rival Emmanouil Karalis with a championship record of 6.15 metres at Alexander Stadium.

Karalis took silver with a clearance of 6.00m, while France’s Baptiste Thiery claimed bronze (5.85).

“Another medal, I can’t complain,” said Duplantis, 26, the double Olympic champion who has also won three world golds.

“It’s really amazing. I’m just trying to win.

“I’m happy coming out with the win and that was enough for tonight.

“I really had a good time this week.”

Duplantis added: “This is my fourth one of these in a row now which is pretty crazy.

“I am getting pretty old and it’s going quick so I’m just trying not to take it for granted and enjoy it as much as I can.

“Every time I go to the track I want to leave my mark and do something no one has done before so the championship record feels really good.”

Only three vaulters in the 14-strong field had gone over the 6m mark: Duplantis, Karalis, whose best is 6.17m, and Norway’s Sondre Guttormsen, with a personal best of 6.06m.

- Early success -

The entry point was 5.55m, a height that posed no problem for Duplantis or Karalis.

Both vaulters passed as the bar was raised to 5.70m, which four other competitors failed to clear.

The bar then went up to 5.85m, Duplantis, Karalis and France’s Baptiste Thiery sailing over.

There were five more casualties, Guttormsen and Germany’s Bo Kanda Lita Baehre passing after a couple of failures.

With the bar at 5.95, the Norwegian and German failed, along with Thiery.

Karalis went clear, with Duplantis passing.

The bar went up to 6.00m and the US-born Swede failed with his first attempt, as did Karalis, with just the pair left in competition.

Duplantis was successful on his second attempt to pile the pressure on the Greek, who delivered at the second time of asking.

Both passed at 6.05m, Duplantis clearing 6.10m but Karalis bringing the bar down on his first attempt despite ‘Zorba’s Dance’ booming out over the tannoy.

Duplantis turned the screw as Karalis then passed, sailing over 6.15m, a championship record that beat the previous best of 6.10m he set in Rome two years ago.

Karalis had nothing to lose so again passed and the bar went up to 6.20m.

The Greek had one more attempt to stay in the competition, but just brushed the bar to bring it crashing down to end his evening.

There was no tilt at a 16th world record for Duplantis, quick to don his tracksuit and pack up his poles as temperatures dipped.

“This is really special,” said Duplantis, who was making his return to competition after a scare that saw him withdraw from the London Diamond League meet with a left thigh problem after clearing 5.95m.

“It has been a funky year by my standards so to come out here and win, that was the most important.”