The world of athletics is once again in awe of Armand “Mondo” Duplantis after the Swedish pole vaulter delivered a stunning performance to secure his third consecutive world outdoor title and break his own world record. In a breathtaking display of dominance at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Duplantis cleared a staggering 6.30 meters, a height that is his 14th world record and the fourth he has set this year alone.
Duplantis, who also holds the Olympic title from 2024, had already secured the gold medal with a comfortable clearance of 6.15m. But as has become his signature, he wasn’t finished. With the crowd of over 50,000 roaring him on, he had the bar raised to 6.30m, a new benchmark for the sport. After two narrow misses, he soared over the bar on his third and final attempt, igniting a wave of wild celebration from the crowd and his fellow competitors. The new record is also the longest throw in the world for 20 years.
“I’m just so happy,” Duplantis said after his historic vault. “I wanted to come back to Tokyo because I knew it was a wonderful city. But it’s better than I ever imagined. This is the biggest dream ever to come true for me.”
The victory not only further cements Duplantis’s legacy as the greatest pole vaulter of all time but also highlights his incredible consistency. All six of his throws in the final were farther than his winning throw from the 2023 World Championships.
While Duplantis was in a league of his own, the competition was fierce. Greece’s Emmanouil Karalis secured the silver medal with a lifetime best of 6.00m, while Australia’s Kurtis Marschall took the bronze with a personal best of 5.95m. Their strong performances pushed Duplantis, who thrives on competition, to new heights. The result also means that Canada has secured a hammer double for the third consecutive global championships thanks to Camryn Rogers’s win in the women’s event.
