It is indeed a habit but one that you have to force yourself not to trivialize. This Saturday, for the opening of the Diamond League in Xiamen (China), Armand Duplantis once again reached the stars by improving by one centimeter (old record at 6.23 m during the Diamond League final last September in Eugene) his own world record with a successful jump of 6.24 m on his first attempt.
Author of 5.62 m and 5.82 m for his entry into the competition, the Swede then eliminated Sam Kendricks (2nd with 5.82 m), the last survivor of the day, by passing a bar placed at 6 m. It was then time to ask to raise the piece of plastic much higher and the Olympic champion then asked for 6.24 m, as he had done a few weeks earlier on the All Star Perche side of Renaud Lavillenie in Clermont- Ferrand.
But while in France he had failed to cross, Duplantis, this time, took off to scrape a new centimeter over gravity and enter a little further into the legend of his discipline with an eighth world record. since he took over the world pole vault and his first record in 2020 at 6.17 m, to erase Lavillenie.
During the press conference on Friday, the double world champion indicated that during the opening of the season, “there are always little sensations gurgling in the stomach”. With this entry world record, the one who ended his winter with the world indoor title in Glasgow and a performance of 6.05 m, immediately indicated that it will be necessary to go very, very high to prevent it to retain his Olympic title in Paris.