Armand Duplantis won in Zurich – in a modest 5.82.
Now a big drama is revealed before the competition.
– It was on the border there for a while, says his manager Daniel Wessfeldt.
This week it was mostly about the 100m against Karsten Warholm for Armand Duplantis. The Swede and the Norwegian, superstars in their respective disciplines, have long talked about meeting each other in a shorter running distance, and on Wednesday it finally became a reality.
Won at modest height
Armand Duplantis showed what an incredible athlete he is when he ran to the finish in the very well approved time of 10.37, a tenth faster than the Norwegian. But the race came at a cost. Shortly before the start of Thursday’s Diamond League competition in Zurich, the news came that Karsten Warholm was forced to withdraw after getting a feeling.
Armand Duplantis came to the start – but it wasn’t exactly his best race in his career. Duplantis cleared 5.82 and then, together with American Sam Kendricks, set the bar at 6.02. Mondo then cleared his next two jumps – but by the time Kendricks cleared at the height, it was clear Mondo had already won, and Duplantis then skipped even his third attempt, winning the event in a modest 5.82.
Unknown drama
Afterwards, Duplantis told SVT honestly that he did not immediately feel in top form during the race.
– It was the hardest competition I’ve ever done, I feel like crap and my body is completely exhausted. Like being hit by a train, as they say in English, Duplantis said.
But there was an explanation. Afterwards, Armand Duplanti’s manager Daniel Wessfeldt revealed a major drama before the competition – which even came close to putting him out of the competition.
– Yes, he threw up half the night after his hundred meter race. It was borderline there for a while. I don’t know what it was, if he had ingested something inappropriate or if it was the tension itself, says Wessfeldt to Aftonbladet.
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