Sweden's Duplantis breaks men's pole vault world record

:Sweden's Armand Duplantis broke his own men's pole vault world record on Monday, soaring 6.19 metres on his third attempt at the Belgrade Indoor Meeting.

The 22-year-old improved on his own previous landmark performance by one centimetre.

Duplantis broke Frenchman Renaud Lavillenie's 6.16m world mark with a clearance of 6.17m in February 2020 and then broke that record again just a week later by another centimetre.

After making the new record leap on Monday, Duplantis jumped off the mat and pumped his fists in celebration. The Olympic and 2018 European pole vault champion will now be eager to complete his set of gold medals at the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon in July.

He had made several attempts at the mark previously, including at the Tokyo Games in August, and said he thought he may have tried as many as 50 times prior.

"It's been a long time coming. I've never had a height that has given me that much trouble, so it's a very good feeling. It was really hard fought over these past two years. I'm really happy," Duplantis was quoted as saying by World Athletics.

(Reporting by Amy Tennery, editing by Pritha Sarkar)