The lone figure on the track, the focus of everyone’s anticipation, was none other than Armand “Mondo” Duplantis. Existing in a realm apart from any pole vaulter before him, he prepares for the times when the contest has ended, and all that remains is the challenge he poses to himself, under the watchful eyes of the world.
Duplantis had broken the world record eight times before Monday night. One last jump would determine whether Duplantis could reduce the barrier between man and flight again, by one more centimeter.
Duplantis failed on his first two tries to break his world record. Before his third, he spoke with his father and coach, Greg, and decided on a crucial adjustment. He sprinted down the runway, soared into the night and became one of the forever athletes of the Paris Olympics.
A Louisiana-born pole-vaulting genius who matriculated at LSU and competes under the flag of his mother’s native Sweden, Duplantis cleared 6.25 meters (20 feet 6 inches) on his final attempt. The Stade de France stadium lights flickered. The best crowd he had ever seen outside of Tiger Stadium produced a delirious wall of sound. He sprinted off the mat to the corner of the stadium, where he hugged his girlfriend and slapped high-fives with his brothers. If I don’t beat this moment in my career, I’m pretty okay with that,” Duplantis said.
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Duplantis first broke the world record in February 2020, nudging it up one centimeter to 6.17 meters. He has since made it his lucrative plaything. Duplantis had broken it seven more times since, always by a centimeter, which maximizes the number of times he can trigger sponsorship bonuses for world records. Duplantis’s record at the start of the night stood at 6.24 meters (20 feet 5¾ inches). Only three other men in the field had surpassed a six-meter bar, and American Sam Kendricks had not done so in five years.
