Photo: Bildbyrån
Olympic gold and three world records were not enough for Armand Duplantis to take home the Jerring Prize in 2024.
So what exactly is required of the pole vault star?
– I can only hope that there will be no one like Truls, who will come and do something impressive, he says.
It wasn’t a bad last year he offered, Armand Duplantis. There were Olympic and EC gold, indoor WC gold and three world records in the pole vault – but it was still not enough to win the Jerring Prize at Monday’s Sports Gala.
Duplantis opens for duel
He had to see himself beaten off Truls Möregårdhwho went home from the Summer Olympics in Paris with two silver medals and gave an entire nation ping-pong fever. So what does it really take for him to win the Jerring Prize again?
– I can only hope that there won’t be someone like Truls who comes and does something impressive, states Duplantis on the red carpet before the Athletics Gala, the day after the Sports Gala.
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He himself was one of those who followed Möregårdh’s progress in table tennis during the Olympics, which ended with silver both individually and for the men’s team.
– I love table tennis, I actually played a little in the USA when I was younger. It’s an absolutely amazing sport and I followed Truls throughout the Olympics. It was so exciting to watch his entire journey, says Duplantis and at the same time opens up for a future ping-pong duel against Möregårdh:
– We will solve that, he says.
“Not entirely logical”
However, Duplantis did not walk away from the Sports Gala completely unlucky – he was awarded in the categories male athlete of the year and performance of the year. But in the “people’s prize”, as the Jerring Prize is called, he fell on the finish line for the second year in a row.
– The Jerring price is not entirely logical. What Truls did was a bit more of a surprise than what I did. I think everyone knew that I had the opportunity to break the world record and take home the Olympic gold, I was one of the biggest favorites during the Olympics. But it’s always fun with an “underdog story” so you can’t complain about that, says Duplantis.
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However, he is not very upset about having missed out on the award, which he actually won in 2020.
– The Jerring prize is fun, I’ve won it once and if I don’t win it again, that’s perfectly fine, says the pole vaulter.
Congratulations on your great prizes, Truls and Armand! You really deserve everything. It was fun to see a ping pong duel between you too.
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