Tonight’s 5.92 came after 5.80 in Kazakhstan last weekend. Two consecutive five-meter jump competitions have not happened for Duplantis since April, May 2021 when he jumped 5.90, 5.90 and 5.55 in three races in a row.
Duplantis did several interviews after the competition and the disappointment lingered.
– I’m still a little disappointed but I’m trying to be as positive as I can. It was a wonderful competition and everyone did great in my own gala and I can’t take a victory for granted, says Duplantis and tries to feel grateful despite everything.
He wanted so badly to show himself from his best side in his Swedish hometown and in front of his club mates.
“Extra bad feeling when it’s in Uppsala”
– It gets an extra bad feeling when I jump like that in front of them in Uppsala. But I survive and am just a little angry, explains Duplantis.
There were several different components that worked together to the negative when he stopped at 5.92. As recently as yesterday, he was set to improve his world record by one centimeter to 6.24.
– I don’t jump badly that often when I run well on the approach, but today I couldn’t control everything and it’s a complicated discipline. There is a lot that you have to check apart from the approach, says Duplantis.
He had problems with the bars not syncing with the super fast approach run.
– I had very stiff poles from the beginning, then you have to think differently because there was almost too much adrenaline when it was a competition. I might have to chill next time.