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Mondo Duplantis breaks his own world record for the 15th time at an event named after him
The reigning Olympic and World champion has been on a record-breaking spree since 2020 but this was the first time he was doing it in front of his home crowd in Upsala, Sweden.
Duplantis, who is also the reigning world champion apart from holding the Olympic gold for two Games in a row, had no failed attempts on his way to the mark at the Mondo Classic indoor meeting in Uppsala. (AP Photo)
Sweden’s Armand “Mondo” Duplantis cleared 6.31m at an event named after him to set yet another pole vault world record on Thursday. It marked the 15th time that the two-time Olympic champion broke the record, bettering his own previous mark by one centimetre.
Duplantis, who is also the reigning world champion apart from holding the Olympic gold for two Games in a row, had no failed attempts on his way to the mark at the Mondo Classic indoor meeting in Uppsala. The 26-year-old started with a height of 5.56m before clearing 5.90m and 6.08m and then going on to surpass his previous best.
The feat only extends Duplantis’s dominance over the event, having first broken the world record in 2020. Apart from breaking the world record 15 times, clearing the previus mark by the minimum one centimetre on every occassion, Duplantis has also made more 6m-plus jumps than anyone in the history of the sport. This was the first time, however, that he broke a world record in front of his home crowd. “This is my house. This means so much to me,” Mondo said afterwards.
ALSO READ | What explains Mondo Duplantis breaking the pole vault world record one centimetre at a time
He turned to the audience and his home club Upsala IF and said: “Every time I’m on track I represent you. I represent me, my family, and you. I feel so proud to be able to do this infront of you”.
Duplantis has already win every major gold he has ever competed for and became the first man in 68 years to retain the Olympic pole vault title at Paris 2024. He has not lost a major final since the World Athletics Championship in Doha in 2019.
Sondre Guttormsen of Norway was placed second after clearing 6.00m, marking his second successful six-metre vault this season.
Americans Zachery Bradford and Sam Kendricks and Australia’s Kurtis Marschall each cleared 5.90m to finish third, fourth and fifth respectively.
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