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Duplantis secured victory with a jump of 5.85 meters and then jumped and took 6.05 in the second jump. It was a championship record.
But it didn’t end there. He demanded the bar at 6.19, a centimeter higher than the world record he set last year. His second try was really good, he broke his chest in the nerve path. The last jump interrupted him after sitting on the pole.
– It’s my best attempt at 6.19 so far. When you’re so high, it comes down to the little things. If I had had three of those hopes, something would have been sitting. I felt close, he says.
“Doesn’t mean today”
It was in Torun a year ago that the 21-year-old first set a world record, 6.17 meters. He improved it during the same indoor season to 6.18.
– I would have loved to break the record, but it would have been too good to be true. Especially when it was here I broke the first world record. It wasn’t said today, he says.
Duplantis and Frenchman Renaud Lavillenie were the top favorites at the European Championships after finishing 6.10 (best world year) and 6.06 respectively this year. Lavillenie, however, was forced to withdraw from the European Championship after injury. Later, little brother Valentin Lavillenie defended the family honor by finishing second, his first senior medal in the championship. Valentin Lavillenie took 5.80, which was his personal best.
– This is Valentin’s first medal, I’m happy for him, he deserves it, says Duplantis.
Trained by Lavillenie
Renaud Lavillenie sat in the stands with her dad Greg Duplantis and coached the star during world record attempts.
– My dad trains me in technical things like what, pole, distance and grip, but sometimes I go to Renaud for strategic advice like how high should I jump. I like his views, he knows what to do, he says.
But he admits that he would have preferred to have Renaud Lavillenie in the competition.
– It definitely would have been more exciting. We could have done something crazier. I competed against the imaginary Renaud and his championship record. I know he was 6.04 and I thought if I can’t beat him on track, I can beat him on paper, he says.
The third was Polish home jumper Piotr Lisek, who also finished at 5.80, which was his best jump of the season.
Gold was Duplanti’s second in the senior championship after the 2018 Berlin European Championships.
Emil Forsberg / TT
Ingela Ahlberg / TT
Born: November 10, 1999 in Lafayette, United States (age 21).
Nickname: “Mondo”.
Lives: Lafayette, located about 200 miles west of New Orleans in Louisiana, and in Uppsala.
Family: Mother Helena from Sweden and Father Greg from the United States. Older brothers Andreas and Antoine, and little sister Johanna.
Main merits (selection): World record holder in pole vault of 6.18 meters (the record was set indoors, but counts as an overall world record). He has also made the highest jump of all time outdoors with 6.15. WC-silver 2019, EC-gold 2018, indoor-EC-gold 2021, U20-WC-gold 2018. Bragdguldet 2020, Jerringpriset 2020, male athlete of the year 2020 and achievement of the year 2020 in the Sports Gala. Named World Athletics of the Year by the world men’s athlete of the year 2020, as the youngest in history.
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