Loading AI tools
Swedish-American pole vaulter From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Armand Gustav "Mondo" Duplantis[3] (born 10 November 1999)[4] is a Swedish-American pole vaulter. Widely regarded as greatest pole vaulter of all time,[5][6][7] Duplantis is the world outdoor and indoor record holder (6.26 metres or 20 feet 6 inches, and 6.22 metres or 20 feet 5 inches, respectively), two-time Olympic (2020 and 2024) champion, two-time World outdoor (2022 and 2023) and indoor champion, and current European champion.
Duplantis won titles as a 15-year-old at the 2015 World Youth Championships. A year later, he placed third at the World U20 Championships. In 2017, he took the European U20 title, and the following year, World U20 title. Duplantis is one of only eleven athletes (including Usain Bolt) to win world championships at the youth, junior, and senior level of an athletic event.
Duplantis is a three-time European champion from 2018, when he set the current world under-20 record, and from 2022 and 2024. European and World Athletics Male Rising Star of the Year in 2018, two years later he was voted World Male Athlete of the Year. At the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Duplantis won his first Olympic Gold Medal. For his 2022 season, which saw him break world records three times, becoming World outdoor and indoor champion, European and Diamond League champion, and clearing six-metre-plus 22 times, Duplantis was crowned both European and World Male Athlete of the Year. He was the 2022 World Indoor Championship and 2021 European Indoor Championship gold medalist. Duplantis is a three-time Diamond League champion, having qualified for and won the pole vault Diamond League Final event in three consecutive years, from 2021 to 2023.
As of August 2024[update], Duplantis has cleared six metres or higher in competition more times than any athlete in history, including the ten highest heights of all time.[8][9] After Renaud Lavillenie cleared 6.16 m (20 ft 2+1/2 in) in 2014, Duplantis has cleared every height from 6.17 m to his current world record of 6.26 m.
Duplantis was born into an athletic family in Lafayette, Louisiana. His American father, Greg Duplantis, is a former pole vaulter with a personal best of 5.80 m (19 ft 1⁄2 in), while his Swedish mother, Helena (née Hedlund), is a former heptathlete and volleyball player.[10] Duplantis grew up primarily speaking English, but also learned Swedish as a second language.[11] He spent summers with his Swedish grandparents.[12]
His two older brothers, Andreas and Antoine, and his younger sister, Johanna, also took up sports; Andreas represented Sweden as a pole vaulter at the 2009 World Youth Championships and 2012 World Junior Championships, while Antoine dropped pole vault for baseball in high school before heading to Louisiana State University where he became the team's career hits leader in 2019.[13][14]
Duplantis graduated from Lafayette High School in 2018 and, like his parents and brothers before him, attended Louisiana State University, though he left in 2019 after his first year in order to turn professional.[15][16]
External videos | |
---|---|
via YouTube | |
2006–2016 world record progression |
Duplantis first tried pole vaulting as a four-year-old at the family's home in Lafayette, Louisiana, and took to the event rapidly.[17] He set his first age group world best at age seven, and his jump of 3.86 m (12 ft 8 in) as a 10-year-old surpassed the previous world bests for ages 11 and 12 as well.[17][18] As of July 2015[update], he holds the world best in all age groups from age seven to age 12; he held the age 13 record until it was broken in May 2015.[17][19]
During his freshman year at Lafayette High School in 2015, Duplantis set national freshman records both indoors and outdoors and was named Gatorade Louisiana Boys Track & Field Athlete of the Year.[20]
In June 2015, Duplantis announced that he would compete for Sweden.[21][22] As a citizen of both the United States and Sweden, he could have chosen to vault for either country internationally. According to Jonas Anshelm, the Sweden national team pole vault coach who recruited him, Duplantis had originally planned to compete for the United States, but chose Sweden in part because Anshelm had invited Duplantis's father to join the team as a coach.[23][24] Duplantis has also said that his older brother’s great experiences representing Sweden at a youth level, as well as his own love for Sweden as a child made the decision to play for Sweden very easy, but that he nonetheless still feels a strong bond to Lafayette.[25]
Duplantis represented Sweden for the first time at the 2015 World Youth Championships in Cali, Colombia; he won gold on countback with a first-attempt clearance of 5.30 m (17 ft 4+1⁄2 in), improving his personal best by two centimeters and setting a new championship record.[26][27]
On 6 February 2016, Duplantis cleared 5.49 m (18 ft 0 in) at a high school meet in Baton Rouge, setting a new age-16 world best, world indoor youth best and national high school indoor record; he was the first high school athlete to vault 18 feet indoors.[28][29] Emmanouil Karalis of Greece, the same age as Duplantis, broke his world marks with a 5.53 m (18 ft 1+1⁄2 in) vault only one week later.[30]
On 11 February 2017, at the Millrose Games, Duplantis cleared 5.75 m (18 ft 10+1⁄2 in) to set the world indoor junior record.[31] That mark was ratified by IAAF. A month later he improved to 5.82 m (19 ft 1 in) in the same facility at the New Balance National Scholastic Championships. That mark was not ratified due to incorrect peg lengths being used. On 1 April 2017, Duplantis cleared 5.90 m at the Nike Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays, improving his personal record and setting a new World Junior Record. The vault also became a Swedish senior record by 3 cm (1 in). While the IAAF recognized the record with Duplantis representing Sweden, on 2 December 2017, USATF also ratified Duplantis's mark as the American junior record.[32]
Duplantis began his 2018 season by improving upon the world indoor junior record by clearing 5.83 m (19 ft 1+1⁄2 in) at the Pole Vault Summit in Reno, Nevada.
At the 2018 World U20 Championship held in Tampere, Finland, he won gold and broke the championship record with a vault of 5.82 m (19 ft 11⁄8 in).
Duplantis bettered his indoor record with 5.88 m (19 ft 3+1⁄2 in)[33] and reached 6.05 m (19 ft 10 in) at the 2018 European Athletics Championships, his first major senior championship. The 6.05 m vault ranked him tied as the fifth-best pole vaulter in history and tied for the second-best outdoors.[34]
Duplantis enrolled at Louisiana State University in 2018. During the 2019 season, he won an SEC championship and placed second in the pole vault at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships.[35]
In June 2019, Duplantis announced that he was turning professional, thereby foregoing his remaining NCAA eligibility.[16]
Duplantis placed second at the 2019 IAAF World Championships in Doha, Qatar, clearing 5.97 m (19 ft 7 in) on his third attempt.[36]
On 4 February 2020, Duplantis cleared 6.00 m (19 ft 8 in) indoors at his first competition of the season. He followed that up with three attempts at a new world record of 6.17 m (20 ft 3 in). On his second attempt, he cleared the bar but brushed it off with his arm on the way back down.[37]
On 8 February, Duplantis broke Renaud Lavillenie's almost-six-year-old world record with a jump of 6.17 m (20 ft 3 in) in Toruń, Poland.[38] A week later, on 15 February in Glasgow, he increased the record by another centimetre to 6.18 m (20 ft 3+1⁄2 in).[39]
On 19 February, Duplantis won the Meeting Hauts de France Pas de Calais by clearing 6.07 m (19 ft 11 in), after which he made three unsuccessful attempts at the new world record height of 6.19 m (20 ft 3+1⁄2 in). A few days later, on 23 February, he won the All Star Perche in Clermont-Ferrand by clearing 6.01 m (19 ft 8+1⁄2 in) in his last indoor competition for the season, which ended with new unsuccessful attempts at 6.19 m (20 ft 3+1⁄2 in).[citation needed]
On 17 September at the Rome Golden Gala Pietro Mennea Diamond League, Duplantis broke Sergey Bubka's outdoor world best of 6.14 m (20 ft 1+1⁄2 in), with a second-attempt clearance of 6.15 m (20 ft 2 in). Note that World Athletics does not recognize the indoor and outdoor pole vault as separate events; Duplantis already held the world record at 6.18 m (20 ft 3+1⁄2 in) from his indoor clearance in February 2020.
On 6 March, Duplantis competed at the 2021 European Indoor Championships. He was the overwhelming favourite to win the title after the late withdrawal of Renaud Lavillenie with injury.[40] Duplantis was still tested by Piotr Lisek and Lavillenie's younger brother Valentin, who went on to claim bronze and silver respectively — the latter with a personal best. Duplantis however set a new championship record of 6.05 m (19 ft 10 in) before making three unsuccessful attempts at 6.19 m (20 ft 3+1⁄2 in), his second narrowly missing the world record.[41]
At the one-year delayed 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Duplantis won a gold medal when he cleared a height of 6.02 m (19 ft 9 in) on his first effort, and afterwards got very close to beating his own world record.[42] Silver medalist Chris Nilsen was full of praise for the winner. He compared the competition against Duplantis that evening as being a regular footballer "trying to emulate Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo" and that his superiority over the world's best pole vaulters was "impressive and ridiculous."[43]
On 7 March, he beat his own world record by jumping 6.19 m (20 ft 3+1⁄2 in) at the Belgrade Indoor Meeting.[44] Two weeks later, at the 2022 World Athletics Indoor Championships in Belgrade, he won the gold medal. At the same time, he broke his world record yet again, by jumping 6.20 m (20 ft 4 in).[45][46]
On 30 June, at the BAUHAUS-galan, Duplantis broke his own outdoor world best of 6.15 m (20 ft 2 in) set in 2020, by jumping 6.16 m (20 ft 2+1⁄2 in).[47]
On 24 July, he broke his own world record yet again to win gold, at the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon by recording a jump of 6.21 m (20 ft 4+1⁄2 in).[48]
At the 2022 European Championships held in Munich, he won gold and broke the championship record with a jump of 6.06 m (19 ft 10+1⁄2 in).[49]
Duplantis capped his season in September by clearing 6.07 m (19 ft 11 in) at the Zürich Diamond League final to retain the Diamond Trophy.[50]
Duplantis got his 2023 campaign off to strong start at the Mondo Classic in Uppsala, the meet named after his nickname. His winning height of 6.10 m (20 ft 0 in) represented not only his best ever season opener but also the highest season-opening performance of any pole vaulter in history. He also broke Bubka's record of 11 vaults of 6.10 m or higher (including indoors and outdoors).[51]
On 25 February at the All Star Perche indoor meeting in Clermont-Ferrand, France, Duplantis broke the world record again, clearing 6.22 m (20 ft 5 in) to increase the number of his career six-metre-plus jumps to 60.[52] On 26 August 2023, Duplantis defended his world title at the 2023 World Athletics Championahips in Budapest, Hungary with a winning jump of 6.10 m (20 ft 0 in).[53]
On 17 September, he broke his own world record when he cleared 6.23 m (20 ft 5 1/4 in) at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon.[54]
At the 2024 World Athletics Indoor Championships in Glasgow, in March 2024, Duplantis made a vault of 6.05 m, winning the gold medal.[55]
On 20 April 2024, at the Xiamen Diamond League meeting in Xiamen, China, the first stage of the 2024 Diamond League, Duplantis improved his world record by one centimeter, clearing 6.24 m on his first attempt.[56][57]
On 12 June 2024, he won the 2024 European Championships in Rome, being the only competitor to clear the six-meter mark. Assured of the title, he set a new European Championships record of 6.10 meters on his first attempt before failing in his three attempts to break the world record.[58]
On 5 August 2024, at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Duplantis retained his Olympic title from 2020. He won with a jump of 6.00 m, after Sam Kendricks failed to clear higher than 5.95 m. He then jumped 6.10 m to break the Olympic record set by Thiago Braz at the 2016 Olympics and finally jumped 6.25 m, on his third attempt at that height, setting a new world record. In an interesting repeat of the 2024 European Championships, Duplantis was the only competitor to clear 6 m, cleared both 6.00 m and 6.10 m on his first try and again attempted to break his own world record of 6.24 m. He both created a world record and broke his own Olympic record, set 20 minutes earlier.[59]
On 25 August 2024, at the Kamila Skolimowska Memorial in Chorzów, Poland, the twelfth stop on the 2024 Diamond League, Duplantis improved his world record for the tenth time in his career and the third time in 2024 by one centimetre, increasing the world record to 6.26 m.[60]
On 4 September 2024, the day before the Zürich Diamond League, Duplantis competed in an exhibition 100 m event against 400 m hurdles world record holder Karsten Warholm. Duplantis won in a new personal best of 10.37 seconds, while Warholm finished second in 10.47 seconds, also a personal best.[61][62]
In July 2020, Duplantis received the Victoria Award, Sweden's highest sporting accolade.[63] In December that year, he was awarded the Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal for "the most significant Swedish sports achievement of the year,"[64] and the Jerring Award, recognizing him as the most popular athlete in Sweden that year; Duplantis expressed relief that the Swedish public had accepted and embraced him.[65][66][25]
Encouraged by his mother, Duplantis took extensive lessons over Skype in order to improve his Swedish language fluency, and by 2020, felt that he understood native speech much better and faster than could in the past. His mother claimed at the same time that while Duplantis felt shy about speaking Swedish in public, he was very happy to do so in private, where there was less pressure.[67][68] By 2021, after winning Olympic gold in Tokyo, his knowledge of the language had improved to the point that he felt comfortable giving interviews fully in Swedish.[69] Previously, Duplantis had lamented that improving his Swedish had been somewhat hampered by the high level of English skills in Sweden, which has led to native speakers preferring to speak English when talking with him.[70]
Duplantis usually divides his year between winters in Louisiana and summers in Uppsala in Sweden, adapted for when the two climates offer the best possibilities for training. The municipality of Avesta, where Duplantis's mother was raised, erected a pole vault bar beside the gigantic Dala horse monument to showcase the height of his world record, something that made Duplantis "break down in tears" over the significance of what he had accomplished when he heard about it.[71]
Information from World Athletics profile.[4]
Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Result | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2015 | World U18 Championships | Cali, Colombia | 1st | 5.30 m | CR |
2016 | World U20 Championships | Bydgoszcz, Poland | 3rd | 5.45 m | |
2017 | European U20 Championships | Grosseto, Italy | 1st | 5.65 m | CR |
World Championships | London, United Kingdom | 9th | 5.50 m | ||
2018 | World Indoor Championships | Birmingham, United Kingdom | 8th | 5.70 m i | |
World U20 Championships | Tampere, Finland | 1st | 5.82 m | CR | |
European Championships | Berlin, Germany | 1st | 6.05 m | WU20R | |
2019 | World Championships | Doha, Qatar | 2nd | 5.97 m | |
2021 | European Indoor Championships | Torun, Poland | 1st | 6.05 m i | CR |
Olympic Games | Tokyo, Japan | 1st | 6.02 m | [72] | |
2022 | World Indoor Championships | Belgrade, Serbia | 1st | 6.20 m i | WR |
World Championships | Eugene, USA | 1st | 6.21 m | WR | |
European Championships | Munich, Germany | 1st | 6.06 m | CR | |
2023 | World Championships | Budapest, Hungary | 1st | 6.10 m | |
2024 | World Indoor Championships | Glasgow, United Kingdom | 1st | 6.05 m i | |
European Championships | Rome, Italy | 1st | 6.10 m | CR | |
Olympic Games | Paris, France | 1st | 6.25 m | WR OR |
Source:[73]
Key: Lifetime best; Season's best, Other world records
Year | Age | Mark | World age best | Notes | Venue | Date |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2006 | 6 | 1.67 | No data | |||
2007 | 7 | 2.33 | X | |||
2008 | 8 | 2.89 | X | |||
2009 | 9 | 3.20 | X | |||
2010 | 10 | 3.86 | X | |||
2011 | 11 | 3.91 | X | |||
2012 | 12 | 3.97 i | X | |||
2013 | 13 | 4.15 | ||||
2014 | 14 | 4.75 i | ||||
2015 | 15 | 5.30 | Cali, Colombia | 19 July | ||
2016 | 16 | 5.51 | Norrköping, Sweden | 13 July | ||
2017 | 17 | 5.90 | X | WU20R | Austin, United States | 1 April |
2018 | 18 | 6.05 | X | WU20R | Berlin, Germany | 12 August |
2019 | 19 | 6.00 | NCAA record[77] | Fayetteville, United States | 11 May | |
Stockholm, Sweden | 24 August | |||||
2020 | 20 | 6.17 i | WR 1 | Toruń, Poland | 8 February | |
6.18 i | X | WR 2 | Glasgow, United Kingdom | 15 February | ||
6.15 | WB | Rome, Italy | 17 September | |||
2021 | 21 | 6.10 i | Belgrade, Serbia | 24 February | ||
6.10 | Hengelo, Netherlands | 6 June | ||||
2022 | 22 | 6.19 i | WR 3 | Belgrade, Serbia | 7 March | |
6.20 i | WR 4 | Belgrade, Serbia | 20 March | |||
6.16 | WB | Stockholm, Sweden | 30 June | |||
6.21 | X | WR 5 | Eugene, United States | 4 July | ||
2023 | 23 | 6.22 i | WR 6 | Clermont-Ferrand, France | 25 February | |
6.23 | X | WR 7 | Eugene, United States | 17 September | ||
2024 | 24 | 6.24 | WR 8 | Xiamen, China | 20 April | |
6.25 | WR 9 | Saint-Denis, France | 5 August | |||
6.26 | X | WR 10 | Chorzów, Poland | 25 August | ||
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.
Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.