Armand Duplantis’ Dominant Olympic Pole Vault Performance
In a summer games full of broken records, Swedish-American pole vaulter Armand ‘Mondo’ Duplantis breaking his own world record on Monday night in Paris reigns as one of this year’s Olympics’ brightest moments.
24-year-old Duplantis entered the 2024 Paris Olympics already having set eight world records. Even to those unfamiliar with the man regarded as the Simone Biles or Katie Ledecy of pole vaulting, it was hard to not understand his dominance as he soared well over the crossbar in his first few jumps during the men’s pole vault finals—placing himself alongside pole vaulter heroes like Sergey Bubka.
“Look at how far he is over this bar, he can almost stand on it,” said an NBC announcer after Duplantis’ opening bar.
With the crossbar raised to 6.10 meters (20 feet) Duplantis had outlasted the entire field and was left the last man standing to get the gold and set the Olympic record. He did so with several centimeters to spare and followed up his jump with an homage to recently viral Turkish shooter Yusuf Dikec for the cameras.
Despite beating silver medalist and former American Record holder Sam Kendricks’ height by .15 meters, Duplantis wasn’t done just yet.
On his third attempt at 6.25 meters (20 ft, 6 inches) Duplantis encourages an already raucous Paris crowd into a cadence of steady applause before sprinting down the runway at over 10 meters a second (23 miles an hour), planting his pole and successfully setting the new world record.
The stadium erupts and Duplantis emphatically runs to his support box to embrace his girlfriend and celebrate with his teammates and other family members.
Who is Armand Duplantis?
Born and raised in Lafayette, Louisiana, Duplantis attended Louisiana State University alongside fellow Olympic superstar Sha’Carri Richardson where he became the 2019 NCAA indoor pole vault champion.
Duplantis’ father, former American pole vaulter Greg Duplantis, serves as his coach and his Swedish-born mother, a former heptathlete and volleyball player, is the reason Armand competes under a blue and yellow flag rather than the stars and stripes of Team USA.
In a 2022 interview with Olympics.com, Duplantis revealed that his decision to represent Sweden in international competition was a result of preferable regulations—related to age restrictions and the ability to be coached by his father—as well as convincing from Swedish youth coach, Jonas Anshelm.
Before committing to athletics, Duplantis entertained several sports including soccer and baseball. In fact, he considered pursuing the latter in place of pole vaulting at the age of 12.
Armand Duplantis pole vault dominance
Before becoming the first back-to-back Olympic champion in men’s pole vault since American Bob Richards in 1956 on Monday night, Duplantis was already well on his way to cement his legacy as one of the best pole vaulters of all time.
In addition to his fresh second Olympic gold and beating his own world record, Duplantis’ resume boasts four world championship titles and three Diamond League Final titles.
Responsible for 61 of the 189 jumps of at least six meters, experts say Duplantis’ currently untouchable skill spawns from a combination of greater grip height and higher approach speed compared to his competitors.
Additionally, after planting his pole, Duplantis gets into the cannonball-esc inverted position incredibly quickly.
Chris Mills, a senior lecturer in biomechanics at the University of Portsmouth told The Athletic that Duplantis’ “timing on the pole and his ability to transfer the energy from the pole into himself that propels him to the heights that have never been achieved by any other athlete”.
