At the Olympic Games in Paris, the gold medal would not be enough for Mondo Duplantis. The favorite going into the pole vault competition also had his sights on furthering his world record in the event, solidifying himself as this generation’s most dominant men’s vautler.
As the pole vault competition progressed in Paris, Duplantis strategically selected jumps to further his way toward the gold medal, first clearing 5.70 meters, then 5.85m, and again choosing to jump again and clear his first attempt at 5.95 meters. At that point, only Sam Kendricks of the USA stood between Mondo and a repeat as Olympic Champion.
With the bar set to 6.00 meters, Kendricks would not get the clearance, which Duplantis would then fly over on his first attempt at the height. The silver was Kendricks’s, and Mondo had the top of the podium secured. Now he was going all in on the record books.
First up was the Olympic record, which stood at 6.03 meters from the 2016 Rio Games, held by Brazil’s Thiago Braz. With the bar set seven centimeters beyond that height, Duplantis made the clearance. The new, yet temporary, Olympic record was set with a height of 6.10 meters.
Now onto the world record.
Since 2020, Mondo has steadily increased the world record, centimeter by centimeter, first at 6.17 meters indoors that year, until his most recent clearance on April 20 of this year, setting the record at 6.24 meters.
At the Stade de Paris, the bar would be moved up to 6.25 meters. A height never before cleared in competition. Following two fouls, Duplantis stood at the end of the runway, ready for his third and final attempt at history. With his final jump, and a new world record on the line, Mondo did what Mondo does. He made the final clearance, setting a new world record, and walking away from the event as the undisputed greatest pole vaulter of this generation.
Watch Mondo Duplantis’s Olympic Gold and World Record performance here, via YouTube
