PHOTO: Bildbyrån
Armand Duplantis is the world’s best pole vaulter.
But here come unexpected words about the world star.
“Mondo can be happy because he is competing for Sweden,” claims DN columnist Johan Esk.
The Swedish world star in pole vaulting has had a fantastic year of success behind him. Armand Duplantis won WC gold outdoors, broke two new world records and was unstoppable in all the competitions he competed in.
Duplanti’s success
The new year has started in the best way with “Mondo” winning his own pole vault gala in Uppsala to the modest height of 5.92.
“Given the heights he spoiled us with, the winning height of 5.92 felt like an anti-climax. He has jumped two competitions in 2024 but has not been over six metres. Mondo did not manage to sync the stick technique with his extremely fast running”, writes Johan Esk in his column on Dagens Nyheter.
“According to the mother and trainer Helena, Mondo has never run faster. I have no doubt that he will get the pieces in place this year and then there will be historically high air travel again.”
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Duplantis is already ready for the summer’s big athletics party during the Summer Olympics in Paris. And he can thank his Swedish mother for that, as a terrible nightmare awaits his American compatriots.
“Here is a big reason why Armand Duplantis can be happy that he is competing for Sweden. He avoids what made an American feel so bad that he couldn’t eat or sleep and lost a lot of weight,” writes the DN journalist further.
“No one knows what will happen to those Americans. They must first pass the selection competition, which is an Olympic qualification. There is no lifeline. No second chance. The top three that day get to go to the Olympics. At the press conference in Uppsala, Olympic and World Cup medalist Chris Nilsen said that the qualifiers are more nervous than the Olympics themselves.
“It’s so sick”
Chris Nilsen remember very well how incredibly tough it was before the Olympics in Tokyo 2021.
– The stress and anxiety I felt before the selection competition was terrible. I lost a lot of weight because I couldn’t eat or sleep. I had a hard time maintaining my normal social life because I was so hyper-focused on getting one thing done, he says according to the daily newspaper.
– Now it went well but I lost more than 20 kilos, it was completely crazy and after the selection I was so exhausted that I couldn’t care less about how it would go in the Olympics. It’s such a sick system.
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That time it went very well and the American Nilsen took Olympic silver after the winner Duplantis. When Mondo chose to compete for Sweden instead of the USA, he escaped these difficult Olympic qualifiers, but he really suffers with his pole vaulting colleagues.
– Of course it is tough for them. There are many good jumpers and it will not be an easy competition, says Armand Duplantis at the press conference.
Is Armand Duplantis Sweden’s biggest sports star right now? Share the article and have your say!
READ MORE: The new story about the Swedish giants Sarah Sjöström and Armand Duplantis – the big confession: “Both have the same problem”
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