Mondo Duplantis has proven once again that he is one of the best athletes of this generation. The Swedish pole vault star surpassed his own world record with a massive clearance of 6.25 metres in the third and final attempt at the Paris Olympics.
Duplantis’ performance took place at the Stade de France in Paris, where the athlete broke the record for the ninth time in his career, demonstrating his unwavering dominance in this sport.
He went over the bar on his third attempt at breaking the world record, and after failing in his first two attempts, he leaped to his feet and ran to the stands to hug his family to share his joy at his victory.
The athlete declared: “I haven’t processed how fantastic that moment was… It’s one of those things that don’t really feel real, such an out-of-body experience. It’s still hard to kind of land right now.”
“What can I say? I just broke a world record at the Olympics, biggest possible stage for a pole vaulter. The biggest dream since I was a kid was to break the world record at the Olympics, and I’ve been able to do that in front of the most ridiculous crowd I’ve ever competed in front of,” Duplantis added.
Defending his Olympic medals
Before his world record was cleared, Duplantis had already secured the gold medal, adding to his three world championship crowns and successfully defended the title he won at the Tokyo Olympics.
Sam Kendricks of the USA placed second with a 5.95-metre vault, while Emmanouil Karalis of Greece placed third with a 5.9-metre vault. However, Duplantis was the unquestioned winner of this competition, as he has been in many others.
With a chance to break the world record, Duplantis thrilled the audience with his first-ever clearance of 6.10 metres, beating off Thiago Braz of Brazil for the Olympic record. After hitting the bar on his first two tries, he reached the previously unreachable height on his third attempt, adding an exhilarating finishing touch to the gold medal he had already won in the tournament.
Ever since he broke the world record in February 2020, Duplantis has consistently pushed himself to achieve more success. Duplantis remarked: “I think I can do it again, but I don’t really care right now… I’m so happy, I’m going to enjoy this very much. I’ve got my family here, my girl here, some of my best friends here…. I’m going to enjoy the heck out of this. I don’t care about anything except the present moment right now.”
Source: CNN