Pole vaulters Olympics: Sweden’s prodigy Armand “Mondo” Duplantis carved his name into Olympic lore with a jaw-dropping showing that left the crowd spellbound. On Tuesday morning (AEST), the planet’s finest pole vaulter didn’t merely claim a gold medal — he also broke his own world record, sealing his reputation as a genuine icon of the discipline.
In a nerve-shredding climax, Duplantis lined up one final attempt at the never-before-reached height of 6.25 metres. As 75,000 spectators watched intently, “Mondo” propelled himself upward, sailing cleanly over the bar and rewriting the record books. This towering leap eclipsed his earlier world record of 6.24m, the eighth occasion on which he has raised the pole vault world mark.
American Sam Kendricks took the silver after clearing 5.95m, while Greece’s Emmanouil Karalis earned bronze with a vault of 5.90m. Australia’s Kurtis Marschall placed sixth at a height of 5.85m — a remarkable showing given that he had only recently bounced back from a painful ankle dislocation suffered at the national athletics championships in Adelaide just three months earlier.
Olympic Pole Vaulters: A Display of Superhuman Prowess
Marschall, who had collected bronze at the prior year’s world championships in Budapest, had been targeting his maiden Olympic medal in Paris. Though the podium eluded him, the West Australian took comfort in watching “Mondo” make track and field history from his spot alongside the runway.
Duplantis’ triumph represented a successful defence of his Tokyo 2020 gold, making him just the second competitor ever to capture two Olympic pole vault golds. That extraordinary feat puts him in the company of American Bob Richards, who achieved it across the Helsinki 1952 and Melbourne 1956 Games.
The 24-year-old Swedish star had already locked up the gold once he cleared six metres. Far from satisfied, he pushed the bar up to 6.10m — seven centimeters beyond the Olympic record — and glided over it on his very first try.
Setting his sights even higher, Duplantis next went after 6.25m, just a single millimeter above his earlier record of 6.24m set in Xiamen, China, back in April. Following two failed tries at this dizzying height, he astonished the Stade de France crowd with the most remarkable vault the sport has ever seen.
Swept up in emotion after his incredible accomplishment, Duplantis dashed toward the front row of the stands and shared a heartfelt embrace with his partner.
Australian Olympic pole vault champion Steve Hooker, providing commentary for Nine, observed, “Gravity looks like it just works a little bit different for ‘Mondo’ Duplantis.”
Reflecting on Duplantis’ record-shattering jump, Marschall said, “We all knew it was coming. I think he was just teasing us with the first two misses. … It is sick to be dragged along by him. To follow in his footsteps is more than I could have hoped for in this sport. Yeah, 5.85m may have gotten me a gold in another era, but that is just crazy right now.”
This breathtaking exhibition of athletic ability has not only stretched the boundaries of pole vaulting but has also fired up a new wave of athletes to aim for the stars. As the world keeps marvelling at Duplantis’ superhuman talents, one can only imagine what heights he will scale next.
