Duplantis breaks world pole vault record for 11th time
Sweden’s Armand Duplantis soared 6.27 meters to shatter the world pole vault record for a staggering 11th time at the All Star Perche meet in Clermont-Ferrand, France, on Friday, February 28.
The two-time Olympic and world champion cleared the record height on his first attempt to break his previous global mark of 6.26m set in Silesia in August, sparking track-side fireworks that lit up the arena.
“I just felt really good,” Duplantis told reporters. “What can I say, I came here to do it. I put everything in place to do it. The run-up worked really well. I just did it.”
Emmanouil Karalis was second with a Greek record clearance of 6.02m as six men cleared 5.91m or higher for the first time in a single competition.
The 25-year-old Duplantis — who earlier in the day released his first song “Bop” under his nickname “Mondo” — easily cleared heights of 5.65m, 5.91m, 6.02m, and 6.07m, and with the victory secured, he had the bar raised to 6.27 for his world-record attempt.
His song played over the arena’s sound system during his record jump.
“When I made this song a couple of months ago, I thought this would be a perfect song to jump to here. That’s why I rushed it out,” Duplantis said.
Duplantis has bettered the world record by a centimeter in each of his 11 times, dating back to 2020. He has broken his global mark four times in the last 11 months alone.
Renaud Lavillenie of France held the world record of 6.16, set in 2014, before the Swedish star kicked off his onslaught. – Rappler.com