Turkish athlete Ersu Şaşma on Wednesday secured a bronze medal in the men's pole vault at the 2024 European Athletics Championships held in Rome, Italy, marking a historic moment for Türkiye in the sport.
Competing in the final at the Olympic Stadium, Ersu cleared heights of 5.50m, 5.65m and 5.75m on his first attempts.
Despite matching his season's best of 5.82m on his second try, he could not clear 5.87m in three attempts.
Ersu shared the third spot with German athlete Oleg Zernikel.
His performance not only equaled his season's best but also secured Türkiye's first-ever senior European championship medal in the event.
The men's pole vault was won by Swedish Olympic champion Armand Duplantis, who set a championship record of 6.10m to claim gold.
Greek athlete Emmanouil Karalis took silver with a jump of 5.87m.
Türkiye concluded the European Athletics Championships with a silver and a bronze medal.
Tuğba Danışmaz had previously won a silver medal in the women's triple jump.
In the medal standings, host country Italy led the table with 11 gold, nine silver and four bronze medals, while France followed with four gold, five silver and seven bronze medals.
