Olympic champion sets a new pole vault world record of 6.22 meters at an indoor meeting in France.
Sweden’s Armand Duplantis has broken his own pole vault record, clearing 6.22 meters to add one centimeter to his previous mark at the World Athletics Indoor Tour Silver meeting in France.
After knocking the bar in his first two attempts at the height, the 23-year-old Olympic champion cleared the mark on Saturday with room to spare on the third try, letting out a cheer as the crowd went into a frenzy of celebration.
He had barely touched the mat before a spray of sparklers went off and met director Renaud Lavillenie, the 2012 Olympic champion, ran to embrace him.
Duplantis had the competition won already when he cleared 6.01 meters on the first try, as Australian Kurtis Marshall finished second with a 5.91 metres leap while the Netherlands’ Menno Vloon took third.
π¨ ππππππ ππ πππππ ! π
π€© Phenomenal! πΈπͺ Armand Duplantis is on the side of the Monde in Clermont-Ferrand in his elevation of 6 οΈβ£, 2 οΈβ£ and 2 οΈβ£ m!
It’s food that removes the plafond! π±
πΊ Revive it @AllStarPerche en π₯ππ£πππ¬ sur https://t.co/xgXE6U6Tof pic.twitter.com/ihgsZ81aoh
– FFAthlΓ©tisme (@FFAthletisme) February 25, 2023
The Swedish athlete liked his pole vault world record for “an out-of-body experience”.
βWhen you have moments like this, when the energy is so high, and you’re going down there for the record, it feels like levitating, it feels like my body never even touched the ground the whole jump,β he said.
It was the sixth time that Duplantis has broken the world record.
He set the first in Torun, Poland, in February 2020, when he cleared 6.17 meters to add a centimeter to Lavillenie’s previous world record of 6.16 meters that had stood since 2014.
Saturday’s effort also marks the 60th time the Sweden has cleared six meters or higher.
βEach world record feels like it brings something a bit different out of me,β Duplantis said. βMaybe the first one might have been a bit crazier, but this might be number two right now, it’s really unbelievable.β
He said rewriting the record books no longer left him with any nerves.
The pressure doesn’t really feel the same anymore to me. I’ve proved a lot the past few years, the past two years especially, and I know what kind of jumper I am, what I am capable of.
βI know that I am deserving to be in the place that I am.β