Duplantis breaks pole vault world record on way to gold

Sweden's Armand Duplantis set a new world record of 6.25m after winning gold in the men's pole vault.

The 24-year-old, who had secured successive Olympic titles by clearing six metres, set an Olympic record of 6.10m with his next attempt.

And he improved his world best of 6.24m, that he set in April, by one centimetre at his third and final attempt, to the delight of the crowd in the Stade de France.

The two-time world champion has now broken the record on nine occasions.

Duplantis, the first athlete to retain the pole vault title since American Bob Richards in 1952 and 1956, raced to his friends and family after breaking the world record.

He then embarked on a lap of the track draped in the Swedish flag, as Abba's 'Dancing Queen' blasted out of the stadium sound system.

“I haven’t processed how fantastic that moment was," said Duplantis. "It’s one of those things that you don’t really feel is real. It's such an out of body experience.

"The biggest dream since a kid was to break the world record at the Olympics, and I’ve been able to do that in front of the most ridiculous crowd I've ever competed in front of.

“The party is going to be pretty big. Not that much sleep, a lot of partying, a good time.”

American Sam Kendricks cleared 5.95m to take silver, while Greece's Emmanouil Karalis secured bronze on countback with a best of 5.90m.

How high did Duplantis go?

'He breaks world records when he wants'

Paris was simply the latest stage for the remarkable Duplantis, who first broke the pole vault world record when it stood at 6.16m in Poland in February 2020.

It took him just a week to break the record again in Glasgow, and he repeated the feat on six further occasions prior to these Olympics.

Not since the great Sergey Bukba, who broke the world record on 17 occasions between 1984 and 1994, has the world of pole vaulting seen anyone of his stature, with the American-born athlete set to become one of the great names of track and field.

On his way to his many records he has delighted fans and fellow competitors alike, with his rivals at the Stade de France cheering him on his record attempts.

"You can see that they are a band of brothers, they are all willing him on," said BBC Sport pundit Dame Denise Lewis.

"They were chanting 'Mondo! Mondo!' because they just know this is the best they have ever seen."

Four-time Olympic gold medallist Michael Johnson added: "You know when Mondo Duplantis is competing, you are always on world record watch.

"He essentially breaks world records when he wants. He has broken world records at World Championships and European Championships but this is the Olympics. He loves the big moments and big stages."

Armand Duplantis first broke the pole vault world record in Poland in February 2020

The serial record setter

Despite being just 24 years of age, Duplantis has a long history of setting world's best marks going back to his childhood.

The son of Swedish heptathlete Helena and former pole vaulter Greg, an American who competed against Bubka in the 1980s and 1990s, he first set a world record for the under-seven age category.

He then set world records at every age group up to under-12 and then from under-17 all the way to senior levels. The missing years 14-16? "Those were my awkward ages," Duplantis said. "I was still short."

It didn't take him long to surpass his father Greg, beating his best clearance of 5.80m at the age of 17.

He first broke the senior world record aged 20, beating a mark set by France's Renaud Lavillenie that had stood for nearly six years.

Setting a new mark of 6.17m in Poland, he has now progressed the record in one-centimetre increments to 6.25m over the course of four and a half years.

By way of comparison, it previously took 23 years for the record to move the same distance, from Bubka's 6.07m in 1991 to Lavillenie's 6.16m in 2014.

How much higher will Duplantis go?

We'll just have to wait and see...