Duplantis soars to victory in Lausanne, falls short of world mark

LAUSANNE, Switzerland, Aug 20 : Sweden's Mondo Duplantis soared 6.21 metres to win the Lausanne Diamond League pole vault on Thursday, narrowly missing two world-record attempts in a positive performance after a few shaky weeks.

Emmanouil Karalis of Greece took second with a height of 6.16, while Kurtis Marschall of Australia cleared 5.91 for third.

Duplantis was beaten for the first time in three years in Stockholm in June, ending a run of 40 straight victories, and then retired from the London Diamond League in July with a groin twinge.

On Thursday, he and Karalis both cleared 6.16. Duplantis - sprinting down the runway to his own song "Feelin' Myself" - made it over on his first attempt. It took Karalis, who had fans clapping along to "Zorba's Dance" when he stepped on the runway, two jumps.

Duplantis then cleared 6.21 on his first attempt, while Karalis missed twice at that height and then - with only one chance remaining - he made the bold move to raise the bar to 6.26, what would have been a nine-centimetre personal best.

Karalis, whose 6.17 earlier this year made him the second highest vaulter in history, missed, but Duplantis saluted his good friend's efforts before wrapping him in a hug.

Duplantis, who has broken the world record an astounding 15 times, took two attempts at 6.32 metres, but could not better his current world record of 6.31 he set in March.

"I'm tired," Duplantis said, laughing. "But no, I feel really good. I feel really happy. Just such an amazing competition. Everybody jumped so well, and so I just felt like I really had to step it up, and I'm glad I just jumped really well and I jumped really high."

The Swede, who won a fourth straight European title in Birmingham last week, will be keen to sharpen