Duplantis sets new standards: Lita Baehre flies to the first EM silver

The 23-year-old has a huge success: Bo Kanda Lita Baehre, who has a new coach at his side, jumps the 5.

Duplantis sets new standards: Lita Baehre flies to the first EM silver

The 23-year-old has a huge success: Bo Kanda Lita Baehre, who has a new coach at his side, jumps the 5.85 meters at the European Athletics Championships in Munich. However, he does not come close to Armand Duplantis, who confidently takes the win.

Leverkusen's Bo Kanda Litha Baehre won silver in the pole vault at the European Athletics Championships in Munich and thus his first medal in a major title fight. In the final, the 23-year-old, who was fourth in the 2019 World Championships, jumped 5.85 meters and was only beaten by the Swedish high-flyer Armand Duplantis, who defended the title with 6.06 meters and jumped higher than anyone else at a European championship. Most recently, Björn Otto had won a silver medal in the pole vault for Germany at the 2012 European Championships.

Litha Baehre jumped 5.75 and 5.85 meters in the second jump, but did not get over 5.90 meters. In this title fight he was looked after by his new coach Chauncey Johnson for the first time. After the World Championships in Eugene four weeks ago, where Lita Baehre finished seventh, he parted ways with his longtime coach Christina Adams.

Torben Blech from Leverkusen and Oleg Zernikel from Landau, fifth in the World Championships, retired from the medal fight quite early on. Both came just over 5.50 meters and placed eighth and ninth. Armand "Mondo" Duplantis stayed at 6.06 meters, although he managed all the heights in the first attempt of 5.65 meters and even missed the 5.75 meters. The Olympic champion won the title at the World Championships four weeks ago and improved his world record with 6.21 meters.