Armand Duplantis is a performance metronome. The Swede once again improved his pole vault world record dating from July 2022, by one centimeter, by clearing a bar at 6.22 m, on Saturday during the All Star Perche meeting in Clermont-Ferrand.
The 2021 Olympic champion and 2022 world champion has held the world record since February 8, 2020, when he cleared 6.17m in Torun in Poland and erased Frenchman Renaud Lavillenie (6.16m), organizer of this meeting. Duplantis, 23, has now improved the world record six times, each time by one centimeter and three times in 2022 alone.
Renaud Lavillenie, driving force behind this performance
“It’s incredible, I don’t know what to say (…) To beat this world record ahead of Renaud (Lavillenie), it’s incredible. I would never have jumped so high if it hadn’t been for Renaud,” he said.
“Mondo”, his nickname, has collected all the major pole vault titles: in addition to his Olympic medal, he is indoor and outdoor world champion, as well as indoor and outdoor European champion. The All Star Perch was his fourth competition of the winter, and each time he exceeded the mythical height of six meters. Duplantis, who was born and raised in Louisiana but represents Sweden, the country of his mother, has decided not to participate in the 2023 European Indoor Championships which will take place from March 2-5 in Istanbul.