Armand Duplantis: Reshaping the Limits of the Pole Vault

In the ever-evolving world of track and field, few athletes have managed to surpass their event and capture the imagination of the sporting world quite like Armand “Mondo” Duplantis has. Born in Lafayette, Louisiana, 25 years ago to a Swedish mom and an American father, Mondo has already become the face of the event, shattering records and expectations with consistency rarely seen in any sport.

(Image Credit to @mondo_duplantis on Instagram)

At the age of four, Duplantis made his debut in pole vault at home with his family in Lafayette, Louisiana, and quickly got into the sport. He achieved his first world record in age group at seven and his jump of 3.86 m (12 ft 8 in) as a 10-year-old broke the previous world records for 11 and 12. Duplantis was not just a talented young man, he was also changing the course of history. At the age of 15, he emerged victorious in the 2015 World Youth Championships. After a year, he finished in third place at the World U20 event. In both 2017 and 2018, he won the European U20 title, and then the World U21 title. At the youth, junior, and senior levels of the athletics event, Duplantis is one of only a handful of athletes to have won World Championships titles.

Starting in 2022 he set the current world record for under-20s athletes. He was awarded the title of World Male Athlete of the Year in 2018, having been a European and World Athletics Male Rising Star of the Year. Two years later,  he secured a second position in the 2019 season due to his performance. The IAAF World Championships in Doha, Qatar, saw the athlete achieve a third-place score of 5.97 m (19 ft 7 in) on his third try. Then he returned in February 2020 after the seventh and final Gold level meeting of the 2020 Olympic campaign. Having concluded the World Athletics Indoor Tour series in Madrid, Duplantis was declared the winner of the overall selection for next year's competition in Spain. With 36 points, he achieved his best three finishes on the World Indoor Tour (in Torun, Glasgow and Liévin), . He won the 2021 European Indoor Championships as a gold medalist. In Tokyo, Duplantis secured his first Olympic gold medal during the Summer Olympic Games, having broken world records three times, being the World outdoor and indoor champion, European and Diamond League champion as well as jumping six-metre-plus 22 times for Duplantis, both 2022 seasons saw him named Europe and World Male Athlete of the Year. With four Diamond League Final titles under his belt, Duplantis has also secured a spot in the pole vault Diamond League final four times in contested seasons from 2021 to 2024.

In 2023 at the World Athletics Championships held in Budapest, Hungary, he made an impressive jump of 6.10 m (20 ft 0 in), defending his world title. In the Paris Olympic Games 2024. Duplantis is not just aiming for medals, but also to surpass the limits of physical strength with a pole in hand as the Olympics approach 2028. Mondo's runway escapes with such speed that it makes people question his height. 

(Image Credit to en.wikipedia.org)

Among all athletes, Duplantis has achieved the most successful six-meter or higher distance runs in competition, with 12 world records being set. Duplantis has surpassed the previous world record of 6.16 m (20 ft 2+1/2 in) set by Renaud Lavillenie, who finished at 6.17 m in 2020. This year 2025 at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Nanjing, Duplantis achieved a winning feat by winning hat-tricks and also broke his own world record of 6.28m at the Stockholm Diamond League in Sweden. Perhaps more intriguing is the possibility that Duplantis has not yet reached his maximum potential. Can we expect to see 6.30 meters in the future? 6.35? With Mondo, nothing feels impossible.

Article written by Ioanna Ntontsef