Duplantis breaks pole vault world record for 15th time at his own meet

Mondo Duplantis set his 15th pole vault world record Thursday, clearing 6.31 meters at the Mondo Classic in Uppsala, Sweden, on his first attempt.apnews
The 26-year-old raised the bar by one centimeter, a strategy he has used since his first record in 2020, mirroring Ukrainian legend Sergey Bubka‘s approach.ynetnews
Duplantis, who has won 38 straight competitions since August 2023, is set to chase a ninth consecutive global title at the World Indoor Championships later this month.nbcsports

Mondo Duplantis Breaks Pole Vault World Record for 15th Time at His Own Meet in Uppsala

Armand “Mondo” Duplantis cleared 6.31 meters on Thursday at the IFU Arena in Uppsala, Sweden, breaking the pole vault world record for the 15th time in his career — this time at the Mondo Classic, the indoor competition named in his honor. The two-time Olympic gold medalist nailed the record height on his first attempt, raising his own mark by one centimeter from the 6.30 meters he set at the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo.nbcsports

The 26-year-old Swede needed only four jumps to make history, clearing 5.65, 5.90, and 6.08 meters without a miss before requesting the bar be raised 23 centimeters to the record height.bbc

A Record-Breaking Streak

The performance extended Duplantis’s winning streak to 38 consecutive competitions, a run dating back to August 2023. During that stretch alone, he has broken the world record nine times, including at the Paris Olympics and the Tokyo World Championships.ynetnews

Since first claiming the world record in February 2020 at 6.17 meters — one centimeter above the 6.16 set by France’s Renaud Lavillenie in 2014 — Duplantis has followed the same strategy each time: raising the bar by just one centimeter. The approach mirrors that of Ukrainian legend Sergey Bubka, who repeatedly inched the record upward to maximize financial bonuses during the 1980s and 1990s.nbcsports

“I Jump for Sweden”

Duplantis, who was born and raised in Louisiana but competes for his mother’s homeland of Sweden, was emotional after achieving the record at his home venue. “I am incredibly proud to have accomplished this in front of you,” he told the crowd, according to the BBC. “I jump for myself, I jump for my family, but I also jump for you, for Sweden, and for everyone who supports me.”bbc

Norway’s Sondre Guttormsen finished second with a clearance of 6.00 meters, while Americans Zachery Bradford and Sam Kendricks and Australia’s Kurtis Marschall each cleared 5.90 meters.straitstimes

What’s Next

Duplantis is set to compete at the World Indoor Championships in Toruń, Poland, from March 20-22, where he will pursue his ninth consecutive global title spanning the World Indoor Championships, World Outdoor Championships, and the Olympics.nbcsports