Internally Driven Duplantis Set to Star at World Championships

With a 13th world record in the bag and an endless hunger for accolades to match his high-flying antics, peerless pole vaulter Armand Duplantis brings genuine celebrity swagger to the Sept. 13-21 World Athletics Championships.

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NEW YORK – With a 13th world record in the bag and an endless hunger for accolades to match his high-flying antics, peerless pole vaulter Armand Duplantis brings genuine celebrity swagger to the Sept. 13-21 World Athletics Championships.

The back-to-back Olympic champion gave fans a taste of what to expect in Tokyo when he soared over 6.29m in Budapest in August, the latest in a series of performances that have left sports writers struggling for superlatives.

“I love pushing myself and I love trying to get the most out of myself,” Duplantis said in the run-up to the biennial showpiece in Tokyo.

“I just have this real internal drive and motivation that I just want to keep being better. I have short-term memory loss. I probably don’t let it soak in and forget my accomplishments too quickly.”

The record keepers would be quick to remind him: The 25-year-old has lost just four times since he broke his first world record in February 2020, soaring 6.17m to break Frenchman Renaud Lavillenie’s record of 6.16m set six years prior.