Mondo Duplantis Breaks Pole Vault World Record For The 9th Time, Wins Second Olympic Gold Medal

If there is one promise that legendary pole vaulter Mondo Duplantis always delivers on, it’s putting on a show. During today’s Olympic pole vault final, Duplantis soared to another world record of 6.25 meters and earned his second Olympic gold medal.

Duplantis has broken the world record nine times, and he shows no signs of stopping soon, as he is only 24 years old. After finishing his first year at LSU in 2019, Duplantis signed a professional contract with Puma. Since then, the Louisiana native has completely changed what it means to be a male pole vaulter and has become the greatest vaulter of this generation.

The men’s pole vault competition was electric from the start. Greece’s Emmanouil Karalis jumped 5.90 meters for bronze, the same height as John Enerest Obeina from the Philippines. However, Obeina placed fourth because he had more total missed attempts than Karalis.

Former American Record holder Sam Kendricks earned silver by jumping a season’s best of 5.95 meters. Kendricks is the bronze medalist from the 2016 Rio Olympic Games and is a four-time world medalist.

Duplantis’ series of jumps was interesting to watch. He skipped attempting the opening height of 5.50 meters. He took one attempt at the next height of 5.70 meters and cleared it as expected. He got back in the competition at 5.85 meters and then again at 5.95 meters. Although that is the height most of his competitors tapped out at, this was only the beginning of Duplantis’ legendary feat.

He easily cleared the following two heights and earned an Olympic record in the process. Before today, the championships record was 6.03 meters.

Most interestingly, Duplantis is just as smart as he is athletic. When spectators watch him compete, they can see there is still a considerable amount of room between him and the bar when he jumps record heights. This begs the question, why doesn’t Duplantis attempt the next world record height if he knows he can get it?

The answer is money. Athletes receive a $100,000 bonus each time they break the world record. However, the caveat is that you only get it one time at the meet you broke it at. If Duplantis broke the record twice at the meet, he would still only receive $100,000 instead of $200,000.

An athlete such as Duplantis who recognizes this understands that they can maximize their financial return by waiting to break the world record again.

There is a long-standing debate between track and field fans about which events are most exciting and if more people care about running events than field events. Duplantis put this debate to rest during the Olympic final.

Although the women’s 800-meter final concluded before Duplantis finished competing, the stadium was still packed to the brim as they awaited to see if they would witness history. The atmosphere was electric as Duplantis commanded the crowd with his grit and determination.

Duplantis missed his first two attempts at 6.25 meters. As he geared up for his last try, spectators began a slow clap to boost the energy in the stadium. Duplantis took off and easily cleared the world record bar, extending his pole vault dominance. Fans erupted into cheers as they realized what he had done.

“What can I say? I just broke a world record at the Olympics, biggest possible stage for a pole vaulter,” said Duplantis according to CNN. “The biggest dream since I was a kid was to break the world record at the Olympics, and I’ve been able to do that in front of the most ridiculous crowd I’ve ever competed in front of.”

Duplantis’ performance was just one of a few historical moments spectators can expect to see as the 2024 Paris Olympics continues.