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On Sunday, June 15, Armand Duplantis broke the men’s pole vault world record for the 12th time, registering a clearance of 6.28m at the Diamond League in Stockholm. This was the first-time in his career that the 25-year-old, who goes by the nickname ‘Mondo’, got to break the record in front of his home fans in Sweden, representing his mother’s native country rather than the United States, where he was born.
After setting the new men’s pole vault world record in his first attempt at the Stockholm Diamond League, Armand Duplantis removed his vest before celebrating the moment with his family and friends in front of thousands of home fans at the historic Olympic Stadium. Since 2020, he has improved his personal best from 6.17m to now 6.28m, a centimetre at a time, which is quite an incredible feat not only in pole vault, but also the entire world of athletics.
It's going to be really special to have my name etched in the stadium: Armand Duplantis
Prior to competing in the Stockholm Diamond League, Armand Duplantis spoke about how he felt that breaking the men’s pole vault world record in his home country is the only thing missing in his resume, which is something he can’t get off his mind. After registering the epic clearance, he was quoted as saying, as per BBC Sport, “I feel full to the brim right now…. The first time I jumped in this stadium when I was 11 years old, it was rainy, cold and I jumped right under four metres. It was quite high for how young I was.”
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“They etch the names of world record holders here. It's going to be really special to have my name etched in the stadium. It's the most beautiful stadium, in my biased opinion. It'll be one of the greatest memories for me, I think, in my career,” he added. Moreover, the first time in his career that Armand Duplantis broke the men’s pole vault world record was in February 2020, achieving a 6.17 clearance to go past Renuad Lavillenie of France.
It is widely expected that Armand Duplantis will continue to break the record for the next couple of years in his career at least before he probably decides to hang up his boots for good.
