Sweden’s Armand Duplantis has achieved a remarkable feat, setting a new world record of 6.25 meters while winning gold in the men’s pole vault at the Olympics. The 24-year-old had previously secured consecutive Olympic titles by clearing six meters and established an Olympic record of 6.10 meters with his next attempt.
In a thrilling display, Duplantis improved his own world record of 6.24 meters, set in April, by one centimeter at his third and final attempt, delighting the crowd at Stade de France. He has now broken the pole vault record nine times throughout his career.
Duplantis is the first athlete to retain the pole vault title since American Bob Richards in 1952 and 1956. After breaking the world record, he rushed to celebrate with friends and family before taking a victory lap draped in the Swedish flag, as ABBA’s “Dancing Queen” played in the background.
“I haven’t processed how fantastic that moment was,” Duplantis shared. “It’s one of those things that you don’t really feel is real. It’s such an out-of-body experience. The biggest dream since a kid was to break the world record at the Olympics, and I’ve been able to do that in front of the most ridiculous crowd I’ve ever competed in front of. The party is going to be pretty big. Not that much sleep, a lot of partying, a good time.”
American Sam Kendricks earned silver by clearing 5.95 meters, while Greece’s Emmanouil Karalis secured bronze on countback with a best clearance of 5.90 meters.
Paris was the latest chapter in Duplantis’ record-breaking journey. He first set the pole vault world record at 6.16 meters in Poland in February 2020, and within a week, he broke it again in Glasgow. He has now surpassed the record six more times leading up to these Olympics.
Duplantis is often compared to the legendary Sergey Bubka, who set the world record 17 times between 1984 and 1994. The American-born athlete is on track to become a significant name in track and field.
His performances have captivated fans and fellow competitors alike, with many cheering him on during his record attempts at the Stade de France. BBC Sport pundit Dame Denise Lewis noted, “You can see that they are a band of brothers; they are all willing him on. They were chanting ‘Mondo! Mondo!’ because they just know this is the best they have ever seen.”
Four-time Olympic gold medallist Michael Johnson added, “You know when Mondo Duplantis is competing, you are always on world record watch. He essentially breaks world records when he wants. He has broken world records at world championships and European championships, but this is the Olympics. He loves the big moments and big stages.”
Despite being just 24 years old, Duplantis has a long history of setting world records dating back to his childhood. The son of former pole vaulter Greg, who competed against Bubka in the 1980s and 90s, and Swedish heptathlete Helena, Duplantis first set a world record in the under-seven age category. He continued to break records at every age group up to under-12 and then from under-17 to senior levels. Reflecting on the years he missed, Duplantis said, “Those were my awkward ages. I was still short.”
He surpassed his father’s best clearance of 5.80 meters at 17 and broke the senior world record at 20, besting Renaud Lavillenie’s mark that had stood for nearly six years. He first set a new mark of 6.17 meters in Poland and has incrementally raised the record to 6.25 meters over the past four and a half years.
By comparison, it previously took 23 years for the record to increase the same distance, moving from Bubka’s 6.07 meters in 1991 to Lavillenie’s 6.16 meters in 2014.
As for how much higher Duplantis will go, fans and spectators will have to wait and see.
