PARIS -
No one needs more proof that Armand "Mondo" Duplantis is among the greatest athletes of this generation, but we get it almost every time he steps onto the runway.
The Paris Olympic Games were no exception. Backed by a deafening roar from those in the stands, the Swedish pole vault star broke his own world record with a giant clearance of 6.25 metres at the third and final time of asking.
It was the final act of a sweltering evening in Paris' Stade de France on Monday, Duplantis once again underlining his complete dominance in this event by breaking the record for the ninth time in his career..
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After failing on his first two attempts at the world record, Duplantis crept over the bar on his third, springing to his feet and running to the stands to embrace his family.
"I haven't processed how fantastic that moment was," said the 24-year-old. "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 had wrapped up the gold medal long before his world record clearance, successfully defending his title from the Tokyo Olympics and adding to his three world championship crowns.
USA's Sam Kendricks was second after clearing 5.95m and Greece's Emmanouil Karalis was third with 5.9m, but this evening, like so many previous pole vault competitions, belonged to Duplantis.
Most of the field had already bowed out of the competition by the time he got going, passing on several early heights while other athletes fell away from medal contention.
After clearing 6.10m on his first attempt, taking the Olympic record from Brazil's Thiago Braz, Duplantis had the stadium in his thrall with a shot at the world record.
Paris 2024 Olympics - Athletics - Men's Pole Vault Final - Stade de France, Saint-Denis, France - August 05, 2024. Armand Duplantis of Sweden in action.(Aleksandra Szmigiel/Reuters via CNN Newsource)
Hitting the bar on his first two attempts, he scaled the previously untouched height with his third – a thrilling gloss on the gold medal he had won earlier in the competition.
Duplantis' success in the pole vault has been years in the making. While many athletes don't take up the sport until their teenage years, Duplantis has been honing his craft since the age of three when his parents had a pole vault set-up installed in their Louisiana backyard.
His father, Greg Duplantis, was a professional pole vaulter competing for the United States, while his mother, Helena, competed in the heptathlon for Sweden. Both are part of their son's coaching team and have been instrumental in his success to date.
Although raised in the US, Duplantis has chosen to follow in his mother's footsteps and compete internationally for Sweden.
Since first breaking the world record in February 2020, Duplantis has made a habit of pushing his own boundaries. His most recent record was set in Xiamen, China, three-and-a-half months ago, and prior to that he had told CNN that "I have higher heights in me."
Clearly, Duplantis keeps making good on that promise, consistently improving on his world record one centimetre at a time. He was still soaking in the moment as the stadium emptied on Monday, lapping the track with a Swedish flag draped over his shoulders.
It will surely only be a matter of time before he's celebrating a world record once again.
"I think I can do it again, but I don't really care right now," he said. "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."
