Mondo Duplantis creates stunning piece of athletics history and he’s still just 25
When you think there’s no more history to be made for Mondo Duplantis in the pole vault – he goes and creates more. The Swedish star wrapped up his third straight indoor world championship title – but this time there was more on the table than another gold medal. Duplantis makes history in the pole vault every time he steps out to competeGetty Duplantis only needed to clear 6.15m to wrap up gold in Nanjing, China. Saying ‘only’ is a bit of a joke, but the fact his current world record – which he set on March 1 – stands at 6.27m shows how utterly dominant he is. He’s practically competing against himself by this point. And that’s not a slight on his competitors – unfortunately for them they are competing against the best their event has ever seen. Emmanouil Karalis finished with the silver for Greece after clearing 6.05m – matching his national record. Sam Kendricks of the United States claimed bronze with a jump of 5.90m. But not only did Duplantis take his medal haul to two Olympic, two outdoor world championship and now three indoor world championship golds, he also became the first athlete in history to hit a century of clearances over six metres. The fact Ukrainian Sergey Bubka became the first man to clear 6m only in 1985, with Duplantis taking the record from 6.17m to where it now stands at 6.27m in the space of five years, shows how the Swedish star has taken the event to the next level and beyond. And he’s still only 25. Karalis at least made Duplantis work a littler bit harder than usual for his gold in China, having jumped 6.05m to then see the Swede fail his 6.10m attempt – proving that he is human after all. That jump was a career-best for Karalis, also 25, and Duplantis could only applaud in response. Another thing – in the history of pole vaulting, nobody has jumped 6.05m and gone on to lose. Mondo celebrated madly as he secured gold after a tense contest with Greek star KaralisGetty Sweden’s Armand Duplantis, Greece’s Emmanouil Karalis and USA’s Sam Kendricks celebrate their gold, silver and bronze medalsGetty But Mondo showed why he is the GOAT as he stepped up to clear his second 6.10m attempt and then extend the height to beat at 6.15m. Karalis failed with two attempts at 6.10m and then tried to match Duplantis at 6.15m only to send the bar tumbling again. It was perhaps a sign of how much harder he had to work for this gold that, rather than have a shot at another world record attempt, Duplantis quickly pulled his tracksuit back on after claiming victory to show that his day was over. Every time he steps only the track, he takes gold, and despite being made to work for it this time, the result was no different. But the champion hailed his closest competitor for making things interesting, and said he looks forward to more close battles in the future after years of, quite frankly, being able to coast to golds. “It took a lot out of me, for sure,” Duplantis told BBC Sport after the final. Duplantis welcomed the challenge from Karalis and is excited about the growing rivalry on the trackGetty But the GOAT of pole vault will be hard to dethroneGetty “I wouldn’t say I was my sharpest today either, I felt a little bit sloppy on the runway, a little bit tired and a little bit heavy, honestly. “I had to fight really hard because Karalis was jumping so well and pushing me like crazy. “He’s the highest loser ever in the history of pole vaulting, so that’s testament to the level of competition today which is super cool. “It took a lot out of me, which was super fun. A few years I was used to it all the time having those tough competitions, but fortunately recently when I’ve been jumping well I’ve been able to create a bit of a margin. “But today was tough. Karalis jumped really well, he was pushing me like crazy and I think that’s just the kinda shape he’s in right now. “I think we’re going to see some crazy competitions in the future too, so that’s sick!”
When you think there’s no more history to be made for Mondo Duplantis in the pole vault – he goes and creates more.
The Swedish star wrapped up his third straight indoor world championship title – but this time there was more on the table than another gold medal.
Duplantis only needed to clear 6.15m to wrap up gold in Nanjing, China.
Saying ‘only’ is a bit of a joke, but the fact his current world record – which he set on March 1 – stands at 6.27m shows how utterly dominant he is. He’s practically competing against himself by this point.
And that’s not a slight on his competitors – unfortunately for them they are competing against the best their event has ever seen.
Emmanouil Karalis finished with the silver for Greece after clearing 6.05m – matching his national record. Sam Kendricks of the United States claimed bronze with a jump of 5.90m.
But not only did Duplantis take his medal haul to two Olympic, two outdoor world championship and now three indoor world championship golds, he also became the first athlete in history to hit a century of clearances over six metres.
The fact Ukrainian Sergey Bubka became the first man to clear 6m only in 1985, with Duplantis taking the record from 6.17m to where it now stands at 6.27m in the space of five years, shows how the Swedish star has taken the event to the next level and beyond.
And he’s still only 25.
Karalis at least made Duplantis work a littler bit harder than usual for his gold in China, having jumped 6.05m to then see the Swede fail his 6.10m attempt – proving that he is human after all.
That jump was a career-best for Karalis, also 25, and Duplantis could only applaud in response.
Another thing – in the history of pole vaulting, nobody has jumped 6.05m and gone on to lose.
But Mondo showed why he is the GOAT as he stepped up to clear his second 6.10m attempt and then extend the height to beat at 6.15m.
Karalis failed with two attempts at 6.10m and then tried to match Duplantis at 6.15m only to send the bar tumbling again.
It was perhaps a sign of how much harder he had to work for this gold that, rather than have a shot at another world record attempt, Duplantis quickly pulled his tracksuit back on after claiming victory to show that his day was over.
Every time he steps only the track, he takes gold, and despite being made to work for it this time, the result was no different.
But the champion hailed his closest competitor for making things interesting, and said he looks forward to more close battles in the future after years of, quite frankly, being able to coast to golds.
“It took a lot out of me, for sure,” Duplantis told BBC Sport after the final.
“I wouldn’t say I was my sharpest today either, I felt a little bit sloppy on the runway, a little bit tired and a little bit heavy, honestly.
“I had to fight really hard because Karalis was jumping so well and pushing me like crazy.
“He’s the highest loser ever in the history of pole vaulting, so that’s testament to the level of competition today which is super cool.
“It took a lot out of me, which was super fun. A few years I was used to it all the time having those tough competitions, but fortunately recently when I’ve been jumping well I’ve been able to create a bit of a margin.
“But today was tough. Karalis jumped really well, he was pushing me like crazy and I think that’s just the kinda shape he’s in right now.
“I think we’re going to see some crazy competitions in the future too, so that’s sick!”
