SWEDEN’S European champion Armand Duplantis cleared an incredible 6.17m to break the world pole vault record in Poland.
Just a few days after coming close to achieving the feat in Düsseldorf, the 20-year-old world silver medallist gained the record by adding one centimetre to the mark set by France’s Renaud Lavillenie in Donetsk, Ukraine, in 2014.
Duplantis had opened his competition by clearing 5.52m on his first attempt and, with no one else going higher, he had the contest won when he passed 5.62m but cleared 5.72m on his first try.
He then passed at 5.82m before first-time clearances at both 5.92m and 6.01m, which added a centimetre to his previous indoor best.
Asking for the bar to be raised to 6.17m, Duplantis was unsuccessful on his first attempt but then made his second try look easy.
After soaring clear, he was first embraced by his fellow pole vaulters before finding his mother in the crowd to continue the celebrations.
His fellow Swedish vaulter Melker Jacobsson and USA’s Matt Ludwig were the distant joint runners up after clearing 5.52m.
“It’s something that I wanted since I was three years old,” said Duplantis, who set his first age group world best at just seven, when he cleared 2.33m.
This story is from the February 13, 2020 edition of Athletics Weekly.
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This story is from the February 13, 2020 edition of Athletics Weekly.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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