Fly us to the moon

We live in a fluid world, where values crumble daily, and figures of national or global significance are demystified. However, there are the fleeting idols and, somewhere, deep down, there are the true role models. Because, as in every era, today as well, we need heroes. Some crazy ones who don’t wear capes and don’t have superpowers, but manage the unimaginable and the impossible and break free from the norms and the recipes of the possible. People who make us try harder so that we become the best possible version of ourselves. To become like them, even just a little. Because in every era, there are dreams. And, as it is known, dreams are meant to be surpassed. However, the only way to surpass a dream is to conquer it and automatically, to exchange it with the next one.

"How do you conquer it? You need love, passion, patience, persistence, and have faith in yourself." These are the fuels to keep going when you’re disappointed or simply exhausted.

This is what I would recommend to any young person starting in sports today: keep going and keep trying to become better every day," he says.

Emmanouil Karalis, the flag bearer of the Greek delegation at the closing ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games, is the great Greek pole vaulter who has stolen the hearts of both young and old, not only with his international achievements and medals won at world and European championships, but also with his laughter, which seems to be contagious – and never fades. Always positive, always full of energy, always emotional.Whether he is speaking to the cameras, teasing his fellow Olympian and good friend, Miltos Tentoglou, or responding to a complete stranger who approached him in the middle of the street to talk to him. His athletic career skyrocketed when he participated for the first time in the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, where with a stunning performance of 5.80m, he secured 4th place (leaving all of Greece, which was tuned into their receivers and had almost stopped breathing, sighing, and knowing deep down, he deserved something better, because he could go higher).

However, it was in 2024 at the Paris Olympics where, with an amazing jump of 5.90m, he secured the bronze medal. If you were in the city center on this day and that moment, you could hear from the open windows of the apartments people shouting with joy. And a few weeks later, during the international Diamond League meeting in Silesia, Poland, he became the first Greek athlete to break the 6-meter barrier. Those who had been following his career in recent years knew that he held the previous record.

They knew he was ready, and he wanted it more than anything. So, the next day had to include a different goal, even higher. After all, on a national level, he dominates in outdoor athletics, having been crowned Greek champion in 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024. Similarly, in indoor athletics, he placed third in the Greek National Championship in 2016, and second in 2017, however, from 2018 to 2024, he enjoys the view from the top of the podium, winning the champion title.

A boy born and raised in the noisy Athens. His father, Haris, is from Pyrgos in Ilia, while his mother, Sarah, is from Uganda. A boy who has a twin sister, Angeliki, whom he adores. A seemingly ordinary boy who loves the color blue (and wears it with incredible pride and joy at events). But also jazz rap.

Who at the same time, he is far from ordinary, as he has entered the Pantheon of the greatest pole vaulters of all time, on a global scale. There wasn’t a citizen in this country who didn’t want to hug him when the morning after his success in Paris, we heard him laughing and saying, "I didn’t sleep hugging the medal. From my joy! I stayed awake and it was with me in bed. We layed together, side by side, until dawn.I hope all athletes who are fighting, manage to taste the moment of the medal at a major competition, a goal race." And, in a way, with him, we all lived it, we all tasted it, we all received it. He became a hero, at the very least at that moment.

One automatically wonders if heroes have heroes.Who fill them with strength and determination. "The role model I grew up looking up to and who inspired me to become who I am today is my father. Because he was the person I always wanted to be like - he was always by my side, strong, supporting me in whatever I did. He taught me that the impossible doesn’t exist. He showed me the way to chase my dreams."

And his greatest dream, as he confides, is not the medals or the distinctions. But to be happy throughout his life and career - therefore, to have as many beautiful moments as possible, managing to surpass every limit he initially thinks he has.

"Similarly, my greatest fear is not being able to surpass all the goals I have in my mind, athletically. To find a limit that I won’t be able to overcome."

A few minutes of conversation with him make it clear: what inspires him every day to give 110% of himself and his strength, to continuously transform into the best version of himself, is not only the love for the sport itself, but the people next to him, around him, and behind him. All those who support him generate within him the will. So that he finds the strength every day and in every practice or competition to push the limits and fly towards excellence.

"The most important lesson track and field has given me over the years is to never give up. It’s true that only with patience, persistence, and belief in yourself can you perform miracles. It might be true that limits are only in our minds; they are our fears."

As one might wonder, he clearly remembers the moment he decided to pursue track and pole vault professionally, because he remembers the need that awoke within him.

"I was 12 years old when my father first took me to try pole vaulting. I will never forget the intoxicating feeling of holding the pole tightly and soaring into the sky with it. When I landed, I was both the same and someone else. I remember thinking that I didn’t want to stop. A kind of need was born that made me want to reach higher. And higher, and higher."

And just three years later, the event came that set the wheels of history in motion, when he set the first world record for juniors at the SEF stadium. It was his first major success and excitement, and it was also the first time the spotlight turned on him. With curiosity, with admiration. And every victory started to be accompanied by flashes and clicks. With the pressure steadily increasing.

Of course, we all want to win. And we all expect the hero of the story to keep the streak going. However, it is the way we handle defeat that makes an athlete stand out and approach (or not) moral excellence.

"When I was younger, I was more emotional; when emotions flooded me, I would automatically show them. Now, I try to filter them, managing both success and failure in the same way. And with the same measure. I don’t get too excited, I don’t get too upset. Because everything is part of the game. And when something doesn’t go well, staying balanced helps me figure out what went wrong and fix it. When success occurs, similarly, I try to stay as grounded as possible because there’s always the next day, the next effort, and the next competition.”

The proof lies in his daily life - nothing substantial has changed. Inside him, nothing has changed either. He is the same person, that same boy who, when he tried pole vaulting, didn’t want to land again.

"The only thing that’s different now is that there’s recognition; people recognize me now, there’s intense publicity that makes my life more transparent to the world. But even this is an additional motivation to push myself further.”

And every next day is a sign of the relentless time that keeps flowing. Perhaps the most important factor in the life of such an athlete.

"Twenty years from now, I will be 46 years old. With a family, I hope to have completed a beautiful and emotionally rich career, leaving my mark in sports, but also on a societal level. I suppose I’ll be doing something else by then, it’s still too early to discuss what, but it matters little. However, I will be a person who will continue and want to contribute to society.”

No surprise. Through depression, racism, injuries, he experienced the value of giving, deep within him. And he made it fuel to "fly" above them.

“With the support and love of your family, you overcome everything.It’s everything to have people next to you that you can talk to openly, so you can recognize the wrongs and understand what’s holding you back to correct them. I learned to speak openly, not to hide my feelings. I learned to ask for and accept help. But I also felt the need to offer help myself, whenever and wherever it’s needed."

“It takes love, passion, patience, persistence, and faith in yourself. These are the fuels to keep going. This is what I would advise every young person starting in sports today: to keep going and try to improve every day," he says.