English
Swedish
Armand Duplantis sent the Olympic Stadium into raptures as he broke the men’s pole vault record for the 12th time and for the first time in his home country. Before the meeting, he had admitted that a world record set in Stockholm was one of the few remaining unfulfilled dreams in his storied career.
On a glorious evening in front of a sell-out crowd, his dream came true.
The peerless Olympic, world and European champion warned to the task as he cleared 5.60m, 5.80m and 5.90m at the first attempt. Then, with victory confirmed with another first time clearance at 6.00m, there was only ever one destination for the bar – up to a new world record of 6.28m.
With all eyes upon him, he tore down the runway and hurtled through the Swedish sky and over the bar for another first time clearance and another world record. He celebrated wildly with friends, family and fans as he wrote a new chapter in his magical story.
“I feel full to the brim right now,” said the irrepressible Swede. “I’ve got a lot of family here. I was still jumping on the same pole (5.20 m, 11.7 flex) that I’ve set the last couple world records on.
“I’ve jumped here a lot the past few years and it’s not necessarily a place that I move through poles all that well, actually I have trouble moving through stiff poles here. It was probably the lowest grip I’ve had breaking a world record here today. The first time I jumped in this stadium when I was 11 years old it was rainy, cold and I jumped right under 4m. It was quite high for how young I was.
“I’ve jumped a lot here and they etch the names of World Record holders here. The last one was a long time ago. My mom was in the stands when Patrik Sjöberg broke the World Record in 1986. I think there’s a common denominator here, she’s a lucky charm.
“It’s going to be really special to have my name etched in the stadium. It’s the most beautiful stadium in my biased opinion. It’ll be one of the greatest memories for me, I think, in my career.
“I’m going to keep pushing forward like always. I’m going to jump higher. I’m just going to enjoy this, enjoy the moment right now. There’s not much between me and 6.30, technically. It’s just a few centimetres.
“I’m just a perfect day away from it. It get’s a little tougher as it gets higher though. I think technically, physically, and everything like that I am right there. I’m going to release a song in two weeks. It has nothing to do with setting the World Record right now, it just happens to be that way.”
Kurtis Marschall of Australia was second with 5.90m and the Netherlands’ Menno Vloon third with 5.80m.
