TRACK & FIELD
Mondo
Mondo ’ s World Record Jumps
Magic
Mondo Duplantis has dominated men ’ s pole-vaulting for the last few years , and his recent performance at the Wanda Diamond League Final in the USA added yet another unforgettable chapter to his his already incredible list of achievements .
– BY SEAN FALCONER
World Championships 2022 • Eugene , USA – July 2022 World Record 6.21m
Image : Christian Petersen / Getty Images
It ’ s becoming a regular thing now . Swedish polevaulter Armand ‘ Mondo ’ Duplantis ( 23 ) lines up for a top-level international competition , wins outright by out-jumping all-comers , and then asks the officials to push the bar considerably higher and goes after his own World Record . He did it at the 2022 World Champs last July in Eugene in the USA , where his clearance at 6.00m won the competition ( and gave him the full-house of Olympic , World Indoor and World Outdoor titles ), and a 6.06m gave him the World Champs meeting record , but then he asked for 6.21m , and on his second attempt , he had also beaten his own World Record of 6.20m , set earlier that year in Belgrade , Serbia .
“ You picture the moment when you ’ re a kid ,” he said after setting his first outdoor World Record ( see sidebar ). “ You ’ re on the biggest stage , which would be a World Championships , you ’ re going for the World Record , and you end up breaking it and doing something that nobody has ever done . It ’ s one of those moments where it ’ s really a dream come true situation .”
Fast forward to the 2023 World Champs in Budapest , Hungary this past August , and it happened again . Duplantis had the gold medal in the bag with a 6.10m clearance , and then asked the officials to raise the bar to 6.23m . ( He had pushed the World Record to 6.22m in February this year , in an indoor competition
Mondo ’ s Records
After the era of domination in men ’ s pole vaulting by Ukraine ’ s Sergey Bubka , who set 17 World Records from 1984 to 1994 and took the all-time best to 6.14m , the World Record was extended to 6.16m by Frenchman Renaud Lavillinie in early 2014 . That mark lasted until the reign of Sweden ’ s Mondo Duplantis began in 2020 , when he jumped 6.17m in Poland . Duplantis has subsequently set seven World Records , with the latest coming in the USA this September at 6.23m . The full sequence of his World Record-setting jumps is :
in Clermont-Ferrand , France .) With the enthralled crowd cheering him on , he took his three jumps at this unprecedented height and only just missed another World Record as his leg skimmed the bar and knocked it off . But that record was not due to stand for long .
Happy Hunting Ground
On 17 September , the Wanda Diamond League Final was hosted by the Prefontaine Classic meet on the famous Hayward Field in Eugene . Duplantis once again started the competition as favourite , after clearing 5.62m , 5.72m and 5.82m , he skipped 5.92m and then cleared 6.02m on his first attempt to win the competition and claim his third Diamond trophy . It was also the 73rd six-metre clearance of his career . However , he was not done , and to no-one ’ s surprise , he asked for the bar to be raised to 6.23m . What happened next left the fans in awe .
With thunderous support from the crowd , he took his run-up , planted the pole , and then soared over the bar , just brushing it with his leg but not dislodging it , to set yet another new World Record height , and then Duplantis did his customary somersault of celebration as he was congratulated by fellow jumpers as well as family and friends in the stadium . This was Duplantis ’ seventh World Record since he jumped 6.17m in Poland in 2020 , and continues an incredible sequence
All Star Perche Meet • Clermont-Ferrand , France – February 2023 • World Record ( Indoor ) 6.22
Diamond League Final 2023 • Eugene , USA – September 2023 World Record 6.23m
of pushing the record up one centimetre at a time each time . ( The latest World Records are , of course , subject to the usual ratification procedure by World Athletics .)
Afterwards , Duplantis said , “ I ’ m two for two right now on World Records at Hayward , and it ’ s just a combination of everything . The track is really fast , the crowd and energy are fantastic , and everything just built up to what I need to be able to break the World Record . I hope that I can continue to keep jumping higher than I did today . If I ’ m able to take pole vaulting to another level , and I can get as many eyes as possible watching it by jumping really high and doing some cool things , then that ’ s a job well done by me .”
6.17m ( I ) |
Toruń , Poland |
8 February 2020 |
6.18m ( I ) |
Glasgow , UK |
15 February 2020 |
6.19m ( I ) |
Belgrade , Serbia |
7 March 2022 |
6.20m ( I ) |
Belgrade , Serbia |
20 March 2022 |
6.21m |
Eugene , USA |
24 July 2022 |
6.22m ( I ) |
Clermont-Ferrand , France |
25 February 2023 |
6.23m |
Eugene , USA |
17 September 2023 |
Note : Since 2000 , World Athletics has made no distinction between indoor and outdoor competition when establishing pole vault World Records , but jumps are still listed as indoor ( I ), when it applies .
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