Armand Duplantis jumped for a new world record.
Then SVT chose to focus on… something completely different.
Viewers were not happy after the record attempt was thwarted.
Armand Duplantis made his season premiere after a few months of rest, and before the competition in Uppsala he talked about his form being better than in a long time. He said that he is in significantly better shape than he was last year, and the goal was clear: A new world record in front of the home crowd.
SVT’s big miss
Duplantis did exactly as usual, as he won the competition quite easily, and above all convincingly. Duplantis became the first in history to clear 6.10 in a season premiere, and of course the Swede also went up to 6.22, which is the height of a new world record. But Duplantis had problems in the first attempt, and likewise in the second.
Then SVT made a strange choice during the third attempt. Instead of actually filming Duplantis’ jump, the camera was left on father Greg and mother Helena, and through their reactions it was understood that Duplantis actually pulled out on the third and final attempt. On social media, many were angry that SVT robbed the viewers of the record attempt.
“What happened there? SVT films mother and father instead of the world record attempt. It would have been something if SVT missed filming a world record when they have only one person to focus on,” writes Erik Karlsson, sports director of Arbetarbladet & Gefle Dagblad.
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Mondo’s nice joke
But it wasn’t just the viewers who thought the choice from SVT was strange. Greg Duplantis says to TT that he does not understand what SVT did.
– That’s a shame. Why should they waste (broadcast) on me, says the father, and continues:
– Everyone wants to see him. I’m sure it was a mistake, but I don’t know.
Armand Duplantis also took the opportunity to joke about the incident.
– My dad is handsome, so it’s not the worst prospect. It might have been boring if I had broken the record, but now I didn’t, he tells Aftonbladet.
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