Mondo Duplantis breaks pole vault world record for sixth time

Mondo Duplantis broke the men’s pole vault world record for a sixth time by clearing 6.22 meters at an indoor meet in France on Saturday.

Duplantis, a 23-year-old, Louisiana-raised Swede, has now raised the world record from Frenchman Renaud Lavillenie‘s 6.16 meters in 2014 to 6.22 meters (20 feet and nearly 5 inches), upping it by one centimeter at each of his six record-breaking meets.

He broke it Saturday on his third and final attempt at the height without touching the bar. Lavillenie watched it trackside, sprinted to Duplantis and was the first person to embrace him, bowling him over.

“I wanted to do it for Renaud,” said Duplantis, who looked at Lavillenie as a role model growing up. “This is really special.”

Ukrainian Sergey Bubka broke the outdoor world record 17 times and indoor world record 18 times in the 1980s and ’90s, including by one centimeter on many occasions, taking advantage of bonus money each time he raised it. It has since been changed to one world record combining indoors and outdoors.

Last year, Duplantis raised his world record three times, swept the world indoor and outdoor and Diamond League titles and was named Male Athlete of the Year across the sport.

“It’s probably been by far the best year that I’ve ever had,” Duplantis said after his season.

The next significant milestone is 6.25 meters, or 20 feet, 6 inches.

“We’ll so how high, but I want to push it higher than people think is even possible,” he said last year.

OlympicTalk is on Apple News. Favorite us!

#AllStarPerche #clermontferrand #France

Nouveau Record du MondeArmand Duplantis 6.22m pic.twitter.com/nfO8VBAIoH

— BobHG B Ph.D (@RobertHG_B) February 25, 2023

Gabby Douglas, the 2012 Olympic all-around champion, returned to training at a