The 24-year-old pole vaulting sensation, who had already clinched consecutive Olympic titles by clearing six meters, set a new Olympic record of 6.10 meters with his next attempt. He then improved his own world record, which he had set at 6.24 meters in April, by one centimeter on his third and final attempt, thrilling the crowd at the Stade de France.
With this achievement, Duplantis, who is now a two-time world champion, has broken the pole vaulting world record on nine occasions. He also becomes the first athlete to retain the pole vault title since American Bob Richards in 1952 and 1956. After shattering the world record, Duplantis rushed to celebrate with his friends and family before taking a celebratory lap around the track, wrapped in the Swedish flag while Abba’s “Dancing Queen” played over the stadium’s sound system.
“I haven’t fully processed how incredible this moment was,” Duplantis said. “It feels almost unreal, like an out-of-body experience. My biggest dream as a kid was to break the world record at the Olympics, and I managed to do it in front of the most amazing crowd I’ve ever competed before.”
Duplantis’s post-victory celebrations are expected to be extensive. “The party will be huge. There won’t be much sleep, but there will be a lot of partying and a great time.”
American Sam Kendricks secured the silver medal with a clearance of 5.95 meters, while Greece’s Emmanouil Karalis took bronze on countback with a best of 5.90 meters.
Duplantis’s performance in Paris is just the latest highlight in his extraordinary career. He first set the pole vault world record at 6.16 meters in Poland in February 2020, only to break it again a week later in Glasgow. Since then, he has continued to set new records, bringing his current mark to 6.25 meters over the past four and a half years.
Notably, Duplantis has delighted fans and fellow competitors alike, with his rivals at the Stade de France cheering him on. BBC Sport pundit Dame Denise Lewis noted the camaraderie among the athletes, who were chanting “Mondo! Mondo!” in support. Four-time Olympic gold medallist Michael Johnson added that Duplantis consistently performs at world record level, especially on the grand stages like the Olympics.
Despite his youth, Duplantis has a long history of setting world records, dating back to his childhood. The son of former pole vaulter Greg and Swedish heptathlete Helena, he first set a world record in the under-seven age category and continued to break records at every level up to the senior ranks. He surpassed his father’s best clearance of 5.80 meters at just 17 and first broke the senior world record at age 20, surpassing a mark held by Renaud Lavillenie.
With his current record of 6.25 meters, Duplantis has surpassed the distance previously covered by the record in 23 years, from Sergey Bubka’s 6.07 meters in 1991 to Lavillenie’s 6.16 meters in 2014.
The question now is, how much higher can Duplantis go? Only time will tell.
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