Frida Nordstrand has made a documentary about Armand Duplantis.
Now the TV4 profile admits a big insight – about Mondo’s parents.
– It turned out that it was absolutely not like that, she says.
Frida Nordstrand is one of Sport-Sweden’s most meritorious reporters and presenters, and she is currently working for TV4 during the Athletics World Championships in Budapest. Before the championship, TV4 also released a documentary about Armand Duplantis, made by Frida Nordstrand.
“It was absolutely not like that”
Nordstrand is a mother of two herself and tells Expressen that she had some preconceived notions about what Greg and Helena, who are also Mondo’s trainers, would be like.
– You have seen so many examples in the sports world where the children have become good but they have had a hard time and the relationship with the parents has been very bad, she tells the newspaper.
Frida Nordstrand believes that there are many athletes who become successful because the parents maybe push a little too hard. She thought that might be the case for Armand Duplantis, whose father Greg is an old pole vaulter. But Nordstrand quickly came to another realization, it wasn’t like Greg was trying to live out his dreams through Mondo.
– It turned out that it was absolutely not like that, she says.
READ MORE: Armand Duplanti’s scathing criticism in the middle of the World Cup – now pleads for drastic change: “It’s a problem”
The tribute to the parents
Frida Nordstrand quickly learned that Helena and Greg were the perfect sports parents.
– That there are two parents who have provided all the conditions that exist, but also seen that there is a will from Armand to do something more. When the other siblings got tired of pole vaulting in the garden, he stayed behind. It was definitely his own will, says Frida Nordstrand.
Helena and Greg also made Armand Duplantis go to college, believing it to be a good experience and a good safety net, regardless of what Duplantis thought. Mondo easily advanced to the final in the pole vault, and jumps the WC final on Saturday night.
READ MORE: Armand Duplanti’s rage against the rival in the middle of the World Cup – the message that makes the Swede see red: “It’s piss”