Swede Duplantis breaks pole vault world record to win gold

EUGENE, Ore. :Sweden's Armand Duplantis broke his own pole vault world record with a jump of 6.21 metres on Sunday on the way to winning his first gold medal at the World Championships.

The Olympic champion cleared 6.00m to make sure of the title then set a championships record of 6.06m, edging Dmitri Markov's mark of 6.05m set in Edmonton in 2001.

The 22-year-old then set his sights on his own record of 6.20m set at the World Indoor Championships in Belgrade earlier this year and improved upon it by 1cm with his second attempt.

"I was getting a bit tired towards the end so I really appreciate you guys," Duplantis said in an on-track interview at Hayward Field. "This was awesome and I love being in Eugene."

American Chris Nilsen jumped 5.94m to take silver on countback ahead of the Philippines' Ernest John Obiena.