MONDO DUPLANTIS SHATTERS POLE VAULT WORLD RECORD FOR 14TH TIME, CLAIMS THIRD WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE

Armand “Mondo” Duplantis stunned the athletics world by breaking the pole vault world record for the 14th time, clearing a breathtaking 6.30 meters to secure his third World Athletics Championships gold medal in Tokyo. The 25-year-old Swedish sensation, who grew up in Louisiana, won his 49th consecutive meet and fifth straight major title, including Olympics.

Duplantis’s dramatic finale kept the jam-packed stadium on the edge of their seats for half an hour as he attempted the record. He cleared his top height on his third and final try, leaping into second-place finisher Emmanouil Karalis’s arms as the bar bounced but didn’t fall. “To give you guys this moment, it’s just amazing,” Duplantis said.

The victory earns Duplantis $70,000 plus a $100,000 bonus for setting the record. Since first breaking the record on February 8, 2020, with 6.17 meters, Duplantis has incrementally improved it by one centimeter each time, racking up bonuses.

“What Mondo has in spades is what every pole vaulter is trying to achieve,” said Sam Kendricks, the last non-Duplantis world title winner in 2019. Duplantis’s father, Greg, expressed unwavering faith: “I believe in him. I believed he was going to make it on the last one. You’ve got to believe.”

Duplantis hinted at pushing boundaries further, mentioning 6.5 meters as a target. Comparing him to pole vault legend Sergey Bubka, who broke the record 17 times, Duplantis’s youth suggests more records ahead.