The Swedish pole vault superstar broke his world record for the first time at his meet in Sweden.
Mondo Duplantis has set a number of world records around the world, but this one may be his most special.
She improved her own world record at the Paris Olympics, two World Athletics Championships (Eugene and Tokyo) and her home Diamond League in Stockholm.
The world record, the 15th of his illustrious career, came three years ago amid his popularity in Sweden at an event he helped create, the Mondo Classic in Uppsala.
Such was the optimism that Duplantis would clear 6.31 meters that organizers installed a gold candy rule. As soon as the two-time Olympian and three-time world champion hit the mat, he was showered with confetti and immediately mobbed by all the competitors.
When Duplantis cleared 6.10m in the first part of the 2023 Mondo Classic, he broke Sergey Bubka’s record of 11 vaults of 6.10m or better (including indoor and outdoor).
The Swede has now broken another of Bubka’s records, one more than the Ukrainian’s 14 world records. Now Duplantis has raised the world mark from 6.17m to 6.31m in just six years.
Given his dominance during this period, perhaps the most surprising thing of the evening was that Duplantis won so easily.
Just two weeks ago, Emmanuel Karalis, who won Olympic bronze in Paris and finished second to Duplantis in Tokyo, improved his personal best from last year’s 6.08m to 6.17m, second on the all-time list.
Karalis was one of five hurdlers in the field to clear 6.00m this season, with the event boasting the biggest effort in its history.
However, only one other runner, Sondre Gutormsen, cleared 6.00m, a largely disappointing showing from the rest of the field.
There was no doubt that Karalis had a height of 6.00m 3 in the attempts, but the Greek was unable to avoid the bar as he fell back to the ground.
Ahead of the match, many headlines focused on Karalis’ athletic rise and whether he could even upset Duplantis on home soil.
But Duplantis, as has been the case for most of his career, was back in the spotlight.
