Swedish pole vaulter Armand ‘Mondo’ Duplantis secured victory at the Diamond League meet in Oslo on Thursday, setting a new meet record of 6.15 meters in favourable weather conditions at the Bislett Stadium, continuing his dominance in the sport where he holds the world record of 6.27 meters.The US-born athlete, who won Olympic gold and broke the world record three times in 2024, maintains his position as the sport’s leading figure, having recorded the 11 highest jumps in history.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!Duplantis was named Laureus World Sportsman of the Year for 2024, becoming only the second track and field athlete after Usain Bolt to receive this honour.“I am very satisfied. To get a stadium record here was in my plans after a few visits here with difficult conditions. It was great to finally get the right conditions tonight,” Duplantis said.The competition began with Duplantis entering at 5.62 meters, while three competitors – Sondre Guttormsen, Ben Broeders, and Ernest John Obiena – failed to clear their initial heights.At 5.72 meters, three more vaulters – Sam Kendricks, Menno Vloon, and Ersu Sasma – were eliminated, while Renaud Lavillenie cleared the height on his final attempt before withdrawing.Duplantis and Emmanouil Karalis successfully cleared 5.82 meters on their first attempts, while Kurtis Marschall failed to progress.Karalis was eliminated after three unsuccessful attempts at 5.92 meters, leaving Duplantis as the sole competitor.The Swedish champion cleared 6.03 meters on his third attempt, surpassing his own 2022 meet record by one centimeter, before successfully vaulting 6.15 meters.“It did get cooler so that was why I stopped jumping. On Sunday in Stockholm it would be an absolute dream to break the world record. In fact I could retire if I do! At the moment the forecast is good for Sunday and I am feeling good, I am in good shape and tonight shows I am jumping well so who knows, it may be possible. I need to build on tonight and get ready now for the big one,” Duplantis stated.The victory adds to Duplantis’s impressive Diamond League record, where he has lost only four times in 40 meetings since 2020.His world record progression has been methodical, improving one centimeter at a time from 6.17 to 6.27 meters.
