Swedish star Duplantis, who also goes by the nickname Mondo, has been trying to raise the world record past 6.18m since he set two new marks in the space of one week two years ago. The son of a Swedish former heptathlete mother and American pole vaulter father, he grew up with a pole vault pit in his Lafayette garden and cleared 5.90m at just 17 to signal his immense talent.
After winning world youth and junior golds, Duplantis claimed the 2018 senior gold at the European Championships in Berlin and followed up with a silver medal at the 2019 World Championships in Doha. He raised his global profile even further in 2020 when he set a new world record of 6.17m at the Toruń indoor meet in Poland in February and increased it to 6.18m a week later at the Glasgow indoor meet.
He also set a new outdoor world record in September 2020 at the Diamond League meet in Rome when he cleared 6.15m to beat Sergey Bubka’s mark of 6.14m then went on to win gold at Tokyo 2020. After winning yet another title at the 2021 European Indoor Championships in Toruń, Duplantis knew last night’s Belgrade meet could help propel him to more championship success from March 18-20.
The 22-year-old had come close to clearing 6.19m this indoor season and went over 5.85m and 6.00m easily, then nudged the bar on his first two 6.19m attempts before the bar wobbled but stayed on for the third. He revealed: “I think I’ve tried 6.19m 50 times. It’s been a long time coming. I’ve never had a height that has given me that much trouble, so it’s a very good feeling. It was really hard fought over these past two years. I’m really happy.”
via Reuters
