Duplantis skyrockets to glory once more and Iapichino makes her mark in the sand 

Duplantis skyrockets to glory once more 

Swedish superstar, Mondo Duplantis delighted his home crowd with a superb 6.05m pole vault winning display to end the night on a high note. 

The 23-year-old Olympic champion and world indoor and outdoor champion added to his Stockholm victories in 2018, 2020, 2021 and 2022 and attacked the 6.23m world record on three courageous attempts but to no avail. 

Having leapt 6.12m in Ostrava on Tuesday, the European indoor and outdoor champion followed up on his June Oslo win (6.01m), as the exciting world championship title defence season continues for the vaulting star.

“I found some rhythm on the runway despite the cold - it was not the weather we wanted of course but I always want to jump well every meet but especially here, as this is the most important meet outside the world champs for me in the year,” Duplantis revealed.

“Mentally, I felt I was there and in with a chance of the world record, which is why I wanted to go for it as well as for the people that had stayed so long into the evening to see me.  I wanted to get closer to it but maybe the conditions and tiredness caught up with me in the end there. I used the biggest pole I had in my bag. I was really fired up and felt I could conquer the world. 

“The crowd were amazing to stay like that and it says so much about their passion for watching athletics and I will always be grateful for that.”

Runner-up, Ernest Jon Obiena of the Philippines cleared 5.82m after three attempts at the 5.95m mark. The world bronze medalist placed second in Oslo last month so he will be content with his consistency. 

Iapichino makes her mark in the sand 

Twenty-year-old Larissa Iapichino caused a surprise to take the long jump win, with a 6.69m best in the final round. 

The winner in Florence recently, the Italian pipped Olympic and world champion, Malaika Mihambo to the pole position - the German reaching a 6.66m equal season’s best. 

“It was difficult today because I have never competed in such bad weather - it was an experience. I thought that my competition would be really bad but in the end, I am glad I managed some decent jumps,” Iapichino said afterwards.

“It is a part of the process so maybe next time, I can run into it faster than I did today. I can mess up sometimes but now I can manage these difficult situations. I will take it positively and learn from it - how to get out of the difficult situation so the next time it happens, I can manage it even better than today. I wanted to jump as well as possible despite the fact that you feel uneasy.”