As the crowd at Stade de France clapped in unison on Monday night, Mondo Duplantis had one aim in his head, and that was, to break the pole vault world record on his final attempt.
After two failed tries at 6.25 meters, Duplantis — representing Sweden but born and raised in Lafayette, Louisiana, USA — cemented his status as a golden legend in the sport having cleared the bar to the applause of the spectators and millions of people watching him across the globe.
Not only did Duplantis created history for himself, but he also delivered the Paris 2024 Olympic Games with another signature highlight.
The 24-year-old pole vaulter revealed in an interview that he had been nursing the dream of breaking a world record at the Olympics:
“What can I say? I just broke a world record at the Olympics, the biggest possible stage for a pole vaulter. The biggest dream since 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.”
He also noted that the crowd were behind him at that moment of truth:
“I tried to clear my thoughts as much as I could,” said Duplantis.
“The crowd was going crazy. It was so loud in there, it sounded like an American football game. I have a little bit of experience being in a 100,000 capacity stadium, but I was never the centre of attention.
“I was just trying to channel the energy everybody was giving me, and they were giving me a lot of it. It worked out.”
The Swede believes he has what to break this record again.
“I think I can do it [break the world record] again, but I don’t really care right now. I’m so happy, I’m going to enjoy this very much. I’ve got my family here, my girl here, some of my best friends here. The party is going to be pretty big.”
By James K. Attaglo Wilson
