PHOTO: Bildbyrån
Armand Duplantis is once again the world’s best pole vaulter.
But now the SVT expert Alhaji Jeng reveals how close to fiasco it was.
– A detail that will be decisive for him to take it, Jeng admits to the television channel.
On Sunday night won Armand Duplantis another WC gold. And can now count a total of eight championship golds in his career so far.
Duplantis pressed
But it got really exciting during the men’s pole vault final at the indoor WC in Glasgow. The rival Sam Kendricks pushed “Mondo” hard and also psyched the Swede during the competition to make the world’s best pole vaulter tremble.
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Duplantis also trembled enough as he broke twice at 5.85 meters and was forced to a pressured third jump to avoid total failure. Now the TV expert explains Alhaji Jengformer Swedish pole vaulter, what it was that actually happened during the giant drama.
– Duplantis has become even faster. So the choice of material he has, thus the rod in question. It is way too soft in the first jump at 5.85. He takes the bar on the way up and it still feels like it’s a fairly easy problem to solve. It’s just a matter of changing to a slightly stiffer rod, he tells SVT.
“Failure for Mondo”
Armand Duplantis is forced to make a decisive choice in the hunt for new WC gold.
– For the second jump, he takes a stiffer pole, but the result is exactly the same. He makes his way up and really ends up in a precarious situation, where he stands with his back against the wall and only has one attempt left, Jeng explains.
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But Mondo would not have been the world star that he is if he had not been completely unique in delivering at his best in vulnerable situations and making difficult decisions to achieve success.
– Before the third jump, he knows that “he won’t take this”, then it will be a fiasco. He takes a stiffer rod, but he keeps this cool. Finally he gets a place before the bar, he gets a place above the bar and after the bar. A detail that is decisive for him taking 5.85 meters is that it is a stiffer pole that provides better resistance. And above all, it gives a better catapult when he is upside down, which means that he gets a completely different escape and an even better height over the bar, Jeng admits to the television channel.
READ MORE: New money rain for Armand Duplantis after the WC gold – that’s how much “Mondo” gets after the huge drama at the indoor WC
Duplantis shook off his nerves and cleared 5.85m on the third attempt, cleared 5.95 on the second jump and finally won at 6.05m. A new season best for the Swede and he also attempted the new world record height of 6.24m, but unfortunately failed.
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