One should be careful with superlatives, but with Armand “Mondo” Duplantis there is no way around it. The Olympic champion and world record holder is the shining light of pole vaulting – at the age of 22. At the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, the Swedish “heavenly striker” will probably be back in his own spheres. What does he do so much better than everyone else? And where will this end?
In Stockholm, the spectators caught their breath. 6.16 m, second attempt. “Mondo” Duplantis, as always, rushed towards the jumping facility at a hell of a pace. A yellow, oversized staff at the ready, no doubts, just the focus on the puncture box, concentrated on the complicated sequence of movements.
“Duplantis is traveling to another planet”
Speed, strength and gymnastic skills: Pole vaulters must be complete athletes and also be able to handle the energy of the pole at lofty heights. Duplantis can do it all, better than anyone else – and it still looks incredibly easy. Just like in Stockholm, where he cracked the 6.16 m in the second attempt.
“A monstrous jump,” said competitor and friend Renaud Lavillenie, the French Olympic gold medalist at London 2012. “It shows he’s on another planet.”
Another record for the Swede. No one has ever jumped higher in the open air. In the hall yes, Duplantis of course, 6.20 m even, last March at the World Championships in Belgrade – this height has been the world association’s sole world record ever since.
The young Swede “still has room for improvement”
6.16 m in the fresh air, or four centimeters more with a roof over his head: The 22-year-old is in his own world of pole vaulting under all conditions. Next stop of the Duplantis Air Show: Eugene. The qualification is on Saturday (2.05 a.m. CEST/live on the first and on sportschau.de), and the final on the last day of the World Cup (Monday, 2.25 a.m. CEST/live on the first and on sportschau.de).
Only sawing his baton, secretly misplacing his run-up mark or being locked in the toilet could limit him marginally on the way to the title.
He “still has room for improvement,” Duplantis announced after his triumph at home in Stockholm. It’s hard to believe, but the son of a Swedish mother and an American father does not yet have a gold medal at the outdoor world championships in his closet. Three years ago in Doha he had to give way to Sam Kendricks. Both jumped 5.97 m, but the American had fewer failed attempts.
What makes Duplantis so much better than everyone else?
In Eugene, gold is reserved for Duplantis, who has everyone wondering: Why is he so much better than the rest? “If I ran the 100 meters, I could beat 10.50 seconds,” the pole vaulter, who was born in Lafayette, Louisiana, once told the “FAZ”. The speed of its run-up is second to none and is the basis for such heights.
In addition, there are particularly hard and long sticks and the smooth transition from the run-up to the jump. When lowering the pole, many athletes lose pace because they have to concentrate too much on stowing their vaulting device in the box. At Duplantis, the process is seamless.
Practiced with the broomstick in the living room
No wonder, since he practically grew up with a staff in his hand. Papa Greg was also a pole vaulter, Mama Helena celebrated success as a heptathlete. Little “Mondo” was already practicing with a broomstick in the living room, not far from the parents’ house the Duplantis family had a pole vault facility built for their son. At the age of seven he already jumped his first records.
“He started doing it as a little boy. That sets him apart from everyone else,” explains national pole vault coach Christine Adams. He has perfected the jump and no longer has to think much when he jumps.
The goal: to be better than Bubka
“One cannot imagine where he will stop,” says veteran Lavillenie. Duplantis stresses that he’s just getting started. He wants to be in the history books and stand there in front of pole vault icon Sergei Bubka. “I want to reach the next level like Bubka did in his time, something great, legendary. I want to win more Olympic victories than him, more world championships,” says the Swede.
Duplantis equaled the Ukrainian’s one Olympic victory (1988 in Seoul as an athlete of the Soviet Union) with gold in Tokyo 2021. The six world championship titles and 35 world records Bubka, skilfully improved centimeter by centimetre, are likely to become more difficult. However, one would prefer not to use the superlative “impossible” in connection with Duplantis.