World records for Duplantis, Tsegay as Diamond League concludes in Eugene

EUGENE, OREGON: World and Olympic pole vault champion Armand Duplantis improved his world record with a leap of 6.23m at the Diamond League finals on Sunday, as Gudaf Tsegay shattered the women’s 5,000m world record.

Swedish superstar Duplantis added a centimeter to the world record of 6.22m he recorded in France in February.

He has now reset the world record seven times. Five of those marks were set indoors, with both of his outdoor world marks coming at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.

“I’m two for two right now on world records coming here to Hayward,” Duplantis said after clearing the world record height on his first attempt.

“I think it’s just a combination of everything — it has absolutely everything. It has the history, it has the modern touch. The track is really fast, the crowd and energy is fantastic.”

Duplantis retained his world title in Budapest last month with a clearance of 6.10m and cleared 6.12 in Ostrava in June.

But he’d failed in a string of attempts at 6.23 since February, including at Brussels last weekend, but said the smaller field in the finals was more conducive to a record attempt

“It’s a lot shorter competition and I think that it’s a lot easier to be fresh at that world record height,” he said.

Duplantis had already secured victory with a height of 6.02 — the 73rd clearance of his career of more than six meters.

In his first effort at 6.23, with the crowd chanting, he raced up the runway and sailed over.

“I just try to jump high,” said Duplantis, who believes he can continue to improve the record.

“The limit is very high, and I hope that I can continue to jump well and keep jumping higher than I did today.

“But for now I’m not really thinking about anything except enjoying this