Always higher ! The Swedish Armand Duplantis established, Saturday, February 25, a new world record for the pole vault by passing the bar of 6.22 m, at the All Star Perche meeting in Clermont-Ferrand, on the lands of his idol, the Frenchman Renaud Lavillenie
Master of suspense, it took three tries for the 23-year-old champion, encouraged to the end by thousands of spectators chanting his name and all committed to his cause, to erase his previous record by one centimeter.
The first attempt thrilled the crowd until the last moment, when he hit the bar as he landed. No more success on the next try. "My second attempt was not good, so I was quite upset," the Swede told reporters. It's the hardest pole I've ever used, all I had to do was have a good run, and I was running really well today. »
"As if I was levitating"
In this overheated atmosphere, Duplantis finally achieved the feat on the last try, in an almost daze: "It's as if I was levitating, as if my body had never touched the ground in the whole jump".
In the end, "Mondo" - his nickname - once again pushed the boundaries of his discipline.
Beating this world record ahead of Renaud [Lavillenie] is incredible. He's been so important in my life, for my career, he's been a big brother, a mentor, since I joined the circuit at 17. Without him, I don't think I would be where I am now.
When he fell back on the mattress, it was precisely the Frenchman, organizer of the meeting, who immediately took him in his arms. "It's the dream of any organizer, of any pole vault lover, and it's just extraordinary, and it allows me to keep this motivation to organize an incredible event and as always the athletes make it good said Lavillenie, although he admitted to a little frustration, that "of not having jumped and taken part in the party entirely".
Before his new feat, Armand Duplantis had easily dominated the men's competition, being the only one to cross the 6 meters (6.01 m). He is ending his indoor season in Clermont-Ferrand and will not be present at the European Championships in Istanbul next month, "as planned from the start".
"I wanted a little bit shorter indoor season, break the indoor world record." A bet that turned out to be a winner on Saturday evening. "The outdoor season is my main focus this year, and that's what I'm trying to prioritize," said the native of Lafayette, Louisiana, USA, who represents Sweden, the country of his mother.
He has already won everything
The pole vault prodigy was only a high school student when he slammed a 5.90m jump at 17 during the Texas Relays in April 2017 in Austin, where he revealed himself.
Rebellious hair, angel face, golden ring in his ear, he seems straight out of a "teenage movie", a genre he likes, during his stay a year later at the University of Louisiana (LSU ). It was during this period, in August 2018, that he became senior European champion after a memorable competition in Berlin, finishing at 6.05m.
Since then, he has amassed every possible title: European Indoor Champion in Torun and Olympic Champion in Tokyo in 2021, European Outdoor Champion in Munich, World Indoor Champion in Belgrade and Outdoor Champion in Eugene ( Oregon) in 2022.
Saturday in Clermont-Ferrand, he broke the world record for the sixth time. The teenager has grown well, and has probably not finished his moult.
