Olympic pole vault bronze medalist Emmanouil Karalis was commissioned as an ensign in the Hellenic Navy on Tuesday, days after returning from the Paris Diamond League event, where he added another podium finish to a season that has further cemented his status among the world’s elite pole vaulters.
The swearing-in ceremony took place at the armed forces officers’ club in central Athens and included several Greek medalists from the Paris 2024 Games who had not previously joined the military under Greece’s honorary commissioning program for distinguished Olympians.
The oath was administered by air force officer and former boxing champion Dionysis Psychogios.
Alongside Karalis, rower Milena Kontou was commissioned as an ensign in the Hellenic Navy, while swimmer Apostolos Christou, judoka Theodoros Tselidis and rower Zoi Fitsiou were commissioned as second lieutenants in the Hellenic Army. Rowers Antonios Papakonstantinou and Petros Gkaidatzis joined the Hellenic Air Force with the rank of junior officer.
The honorary appointments recognize Greek athletes who have won Olympic medals and represented the country at the highest level of international sport.
Olympic champions Lefteris Petrounias and Miltiadis Tentoglou, who also reached the podium at the Paris Games, had already been commissioned through the same program.
Karalis has emerged as one of Greece’s most successful athletes in recent years. After winning bronze at the Paris Olympics, he has continued his rapid ascent, becoming European indoor champion and establishing himself as the world’s No. 2 pole vaulter behind Sweden’s Armand Duplantis. Earlier this year, he cleared 6.17 meters indoors, the second-highest jump in history, breaking his own Greek record and reinforcing expectations that he could become one of the leading challengers to Duplantis in the coming years.
