Swede Armand Duplantis broke his own pole vault world record on Monday March 7, jumping to 6.19m on his third attempt at the Belgrade indoor meeting. The Olympic champion has held the record since February 2020, when he cleared 6.17m in Torun (Poland) then 6.18m in Glasgow (Scotland) a week apart.
A true pole vaulting prodigy, “Mondo”, who was born and raised in the United States in Lafayette (Louisiana), competes under the colors of Sweden, the country of his mother, who trains him with his father.
At 22, Duplantis hovers above the competition: he became European champion in 2018, in Berlin, at only 18 years old and won the Olympic title last summer, in Tokyo, with a jump to 6, 02m. He advances as the huge favorite of the Indoor Worlds disputed in the same arena in Belgrade next week, to clinch one of the two titles missing from his list – with the outdoor world title, which he will have. opportunity to drop out in July, in Eugene (Oregon).
On Monday, he broke the world record in an almost empty room and in a competition where he was the only international level pole vaulter. After having easily crossed 5.61 m, 5.85 m then 6 m, he passed 6.19 m before rushing into the arms of his companion, at the edge of the track.