Swedish pole vaulter Armand ‘Mondo’ Duplantis has done it again, winning Olympic gold in spectacular fashion and breaking the world record with a jump of 6.25 meters on the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

In a thrilling pole vault final at the Stade de France, competitors gave their all to outwit Duplantis. American Sam Kendricks and Greek Emmanouil Karalis joined him in the attempt to clear 6.00 meters. Once Duplantis secured the Olympic gold at that height, his focus shifted to setting a new world record.

Raising the bar to a record height of 6.25 meters, Duplantis narrowly missed on his first two attempts. On his third and final attempt, he successfully cleared the crossbar, sending the stadium into a frenzy.

“Who is like us? Sweden is on top!” Duplantis exclaimed into the TV cameras afterward. This was the ninth time Duplantis has broken the world record. He first set the record in February 2020 with a jump of 6.17 meters in Torun, Poland. His latest achievement also surpasses the Olympic record of 6.03 meters, set by Brazilian Thiago Braz in 2016.

“It doesn’t matter if there are 80,000 here screaming my name”

Reflecting on the moment, Duplantis described the electrifying atmosphere: “It’s the sickest thing I’ve ever been a part of. There were so many people and so much energy and so much noise when I ran on the approach. So I just tried to breathe. It’s just pole vaulting. It doesn’t matter if there are 80,000 here screaming my name. It gave a lot of energy.”

His victory in Paris makes him only the third pole vaulter to win two Olympic golds, joining the ranks of Bob Richards (1952 and 1956) and Yelena Isinbayeva (2004 and 2008). “I am very proud. I am happy that I could take the gold back to Sweden. I felt all the support tonight from the Swedish people, and it was incredible,” he told ‘SVT Sport’.