V 10 N. 10 Mondo Duplantis Puts Another Notch on His Pole

February 17, 2020

The Guardian and Sean Ingle reported this morning that Mondo Duplantis has raised the WR in the Pole Vault another cm to 6.18 in Glasgow yesterday.   Twice in one week.

Mondo Duplantis reinforced his status as being at the vanguard of athletics’ new wave of super talents by breaking the world pole vault record for the second time in a week at the Glasgow grand prix.

The way the 20-year-old cleared 6.18m – easily beating the mark he set in Poland last week – to earn another $30,000 bonus from World Athletics suggested there will be plenty more pay cheques coming his way.

“It’s the best little split second that could ever be,” said Duplantis, describing how he felt once he was over the bar. “Everything builds up to that one tiny little moment. That little free-fall is a magical moment.”

The Swede has already had plenty of those moments in his fledgling career. He was a child prodigy took up the event aged four – it helped that his dad, who cleared 5.80m in the 1990s, built a pole vault pit in their back garden – and set world bests from seven to twelve years.

By 14, Duplantis had already vaulted higher than a London double-decker bus. By 18 he had cleared six metres. Who knows how high he could eventually go now? “Every competition I go into I want to win and that’s the main goal,” he said afterwards. “I want to jump high, I want to break the world record but first you’ve got to win and that’s the main goal. But if I have a bit of energy left, I’ll try to crank it up.”

When asked about his brilliant run of form, Duplantis said that leaving Louisiana State University to turn professional had made a massive difference. “I wasn’t going out every night, but I tried not to let athletics overpower me where I couldn’t live any life,” he said of his time as a student. “But since then I’ve cut out a lot. This is my first year as a professional – I’m not a college kid any more – so I wanted to take it pretty professionally. I try to eat better, I have a better sleep schedule, take recovery more seriously and train harder. I feel great doing it.”

As for what he will spend his bonus on, Duplantis is uncertain. “We’ll see,” he said, with a smile. “Maybe I’ll keep saving.”