Mondo Duplantis takes pole vaulting to new heights, achieving a world record.
SAINT-DENIS, France — The sole figure on the track was the one everyone had gathered to witness. Victory had truly been Armand “Mondo” Duplantis’s since he remembered to bring his poles to the Stade de France. His performance exists on a level unmatched by any other pole vaulter in the history of the sport. He prepares for those moments after the competition has concluded, when all eyes are on him and his only challenger is himself.
Before the Monday night event, Duplantis had already set the world record eight times. One final jump would reveal if he could once again shrink the gap between humanity and flight by another centimeter.
Duplantis stumbled on his first two attempts to surpass his own world record. Prior to his third attempt, he consulted with his father and coach, Greg, leading to a critical adjustment. He raced down the runway, leapt into the night sky, and solidified his status as one of the enduring athletes of the Paris Olympics.
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A brilliant pole vaulter hailing from Louisiana who attended LSU and competes for Sweden, his mother’s homeland, Duplantis successfully cleared 6.25 meters (20 feet 6 inches) on his final try. The stadium lights at Stade de France flickered. The vibrant crowd, the best he had ever experienced outside Tiger Stadium, erupted into a euphoric roar. He dashed off the mat to the corner of the venue, embracing his girlfriend and exchanging exuberant high-fives with his brothers.
“If I never surpass this moment in my career, I’ll be quite alright with that,” Duplantis remarked. “I doubt anything could top what just occurred.”
Duplantis is known for pushing boundaries like few athletes at this event. That night, he settled for a new milestone. Following the competition, he mingled on the track with Carl Gustaf Folke Hubertus, the king of Sweden. (“Fam vad cool,” Duplantis expressed in Swedish — very cool.) He intended to celebrate with family, and his brothers were eager to drag him to karaoke, despite his voice being weary from interviews.
“I’ll likely find some liquid courage and take the stage,” Duplantis joked.
After achieving a world record in the pole vault final at the Olympics, Duplantis, who competes for Sweden, had a meeting with the Swedish king, Carl Gustaf Folke Hubertus, and his wife, Silvia. (Bernat Armangue/AP)
Long before Monday, Duplantis had already established himself as an exceptional athlete. He originally set a world record in February 2020, raising the bar to 6.17 meters, and has since turned it into a personal challenge. Since then, he has broken the record seven additional times, each time by a single centimeter, effectively maximizing the number of sponsorship bonuses he can earn for these achievements.
The evening began with Duplantis holding a record of 6.24 meters (20 feet 5¾ inches). Only three competitors in the event had cleared a height of over six meters, while American athlete Sam Kendricks had not achieved that feat in five years.
The evening's competitive aspect primarily focused on the silver medal, which Kendricks claimed by clearing a height of 5.95 meters. This victory came three years after a negative experience when he tested positive for the coronavirus, preventing him from competing in the Tokyo Olympics. Kendricks, who won bronze in Rio de Janeiro, felt frustrated that a subsequent test he believed confirmed his negative status was disregarded. He was outraged by the isolation measures taken against him and felt unfairly treated.
“I don’t wish to harbor bitterness,” Kendricks remarked. “I want to embrace all the people associated with this. I remember that in the past, many who cared for me found themselves in tough situations. They couldn’t be by my side, and it pains me to feel anger towards anyone.”
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Kendricks takes great pride in having triumphed over Duplantis twice, including at the world championships in 2019. He recognized that in time, the rising star would inevitably surpass him. “In Mondo's world, I’m just a minor figure,” Kendricks noted.
As the evening unfolded at Stade de France, it gravitated towards Duplantis. The excitement from the women’s 5,000 meters settled down. American Valarie Allman secured her second gold medal in discus. Duplantis’s defeated rivals reveled in their silver and bronze medals. Only he was left standing.
Initially, he raised the bar to 6.10 meters, breaking the previous Olympic record of 6.03 meters. Then, he requested the bar to be lifted to 6.25 meters, a height never reached before.
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During his first try, he struck his right elbow against the bar. On his second attempt, he cleared the required height, but as he began to descend, his chest grazed the bar. He approached the front row of the audience to converse with his father.
Pole vaulters are permitted to adjust the standards—the vertical supports that hold the bar—in relation to their takeoff point. Duplantis had made his first two attempts at the record with the standards set 70 centimeters from the planting box.
On his second attempt, Duplantis managed to jump high enough, but he fell short in distance. To address this, Greg came up with a plan. He recommended that Duplantis adjust the standards from 70 to 60 centimeters, bringing them 10 centimeters closer to the takeoff point.
As he approached the official, Duplantis was struck by an impulse. Typically, standards are adjusted in increments of five at various events. However, with Olympic-grade equipment, officials had the liberty to make more exact measurements. Instead of the 60 centimeters Greg suggested, Duplantis opted for 62.
“It would be amazing and a nice nod to my dad if 62 turned out to be the magic number,” Duplantis stated.
After the standards were readjusted, Duplantis took his pole to the back of the runway, resting it on his shoulder. In his youth, Greg, a pole vaulter from LSU, had constructed a runway in their backyard using an old track he acquired at a very low cost. Each time his youngest son sprinted down that makeshift runway, he envisioned clearing a height that surpassed the world record at the Olympic finals.
“I felt like I had experienced this moment a thousand times before,” Duplantis reflected.
He then lifted his arms high and clapped once, eliciting a thunderous response from the crowd. He clapped again, followed by another, each time quicker: Clap. Clap. Clap clap. Clap clap clap clapclapclapclapclapclapclapclapclap.
Duplantis launched forward. His remarkable talent is rooted in his speed. While most pole vaulters often take up the sport upon realizing they lack the sprinting speed of the elite, Duplantis appears to possess that very quality.
“He runs as if divinely assisted,” Kendricks remarked.
After breaking a world record and clinching Olympic gold, Duplantis celebrates with his parents, Greg, on the right, and Helena, far right. (David Goldman/AP)
The vibrant neon yellow pole radiated in his grasp. At full throttle, Duplantis planted the tip of his pole into the takeoff box.
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"I sensed the takeoff point," Duplantis remarked. "The moment I struck it, I knew."
In an impressive display, Duplantis inverted, soaring two stories up, twisting his form and collapsing like a trapdoor. The bar remained undisturbed. He descended onto the mat, landing with a triumphant shout. After embracing his family, he made his way back to the coaching area to hug Greg.
Duplantis has crossed yet another threshold. Each new achievement raises the question of how much further he can soar. He dedicates his life to pushing the boundaries of what is possible. For that evening, instead of contemplating future possibilities, Duplantis chose to fully appreciate his recent accomplishment.
"I just don’t care about anything else at the moment," Duplantis said. "Why should I be concerned with anything but what just occurred?"