Armand 'Mondo' Duplantis once again rewrote pole vault history one centimetre at a time.
The 25-year-old Swede, who grew up in Louisiana, soared over 6.30 metres on Monday night in Tokyo, smashing his own world record for the 14th time to clinch a third world championship crown.
Unbeaten in 49 straight meets and now the winner of five successive major titles, including Olympic gold, Duplantis has made a habit of pushing the limits. With victory already sealed, he kept the crowd hooked, waiting until his third and final attempt to clear the record bar. As it trembled but stayed firm, he jumped off the mat straight into the arms of Greece’s Emmanouil Karalis, the silver medallist.
The record vault earned Duplantis $70,000 for the win and a $100,000 bonus for setting the mark at the world championships.
Duplantis first broke the world record in February 2020, when he cleared 6.17 metres to eclipse France’s Renaud Lavillenie. Since then, he’s been inching it higher.