The Swede erased his own pole vault world record, passing 6.19m indoors in Belgrade.
After many attempts in recent weeks, Armand Duplantis ended up breaking his own world record by jumping 6.19m on Monday indoors in Belgrade. In an almost empty enclosure, the Swedish pole vault prodigy had no trouble finding his Swedish girlfriend in the stands, as soon as he fell from his record, to kiss her.
“It was time, this height caused me more worries than any other in my life. I’m glad it’s done“, he explained hot, relieved. This gifted pole vaulter, holder of almost all the records since he was 11 years old, is not used to the bars resisting him. At 22, he is already European champion, Olympic champion, and has just broken his 3rd world record after passing 6.17 m then 6.18 m in February 2020, before the coronavirus pandemic upset the world. , and by extension sports competitions. Next weekend, he will return to Belgrade for the Indoor Worlds, of which he is the huge favourite.
“From now on we will attack 6.20 m, same procedure in two weeks“, he added, sure of his strength compared to the however solid competition of the American Chris Nilsen, who passed 6.05 m Friday in Rouen. Without limit, he seems able to climb the cursor centimeter after centimeter, like the Ukrainian Sergei Bubka in his time. On Monday, in a competition where he was the only pole vaulter of international level, Duplantis was able to focus exclusively on his hunt for the record, easily passing 5.61 m, 5.85 m then 6 m before recovering three times. for the bar at 6.19 m, which shook without falling.
Unbeatable
The dark-haired teenager with light eyes had already tackled the 6.19 m earlier in the winter in Karlsruhe (Germany), Berlin, Uppsala (Sweden), then in Birmingham, without success. 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, having won 32 of his 33 competitions since the start of 2020. He became European champion in 2018 in Berlin at just 18, and won the Olympic title. last summer in Tokyo with a jump of 6.02m. After the Indoor Worlds, where he seems unbeatable, he will tackle the Outdoor Worlds in July in Eugene (Oregon), the other title missing from his list.