First, “Mondo” secured his first WC gold in his career.
Then he broke his own world record – after a big change before the record jump.
– It’s wonderful, says Armand Duplantis.
Armand Duplantis went to the WC with a goal in mind. Namely, winning the only thing missing from his well-stocked cupboard of awards. “Mondo” has won Olympic gold, EC gold both indoors and outdoors, WC gold indoors and the Diamond League – but not a WC gold outdoors.
The move behind the world record
And the Swede was the hot favorite before the competition, and there really wasn’t anyone who could stop Duplantis. He was the only one to jump over six meters and secured the gold early in the evening. Then he set a new championship record with 6.06 meters, but was not satisfied there.
Just like in most competitions that Armand Duplantis participates in, he went for a new world record. And this time he picked up a brand new pole when the bar was set at 6.21 meters.
– It’s my moneypole. It’s the same length as my other poles, but it’s a little stiffer and I get a little more recoil with it, he says about the pole to SVT Sport.
“Didn’t think much of it”
At the world record height, he broke the first attempt. In the second, “Mondo” struck with a real super jump and was more than eight (!) centimeters over the bar.
– I feel pretty good now, it was a dream night to win my first WC gold outdoors and break the world record again. It’s wonderful, it’s hard to say anything else, says Armand Duplantis and continues:
He also admits that he did not have much focus on setting a new world record. Instead, it was all about – for himself – securing the long-awaited WC gold outdoors.
– I didn’t think much about the world record today, for me the most important thing was to win. I felt like I was in control all evening apart from the first attempt of 5.87, but otherwise I felt very confident throughout the competition.
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