Star man makes his dream come true by breaking the pole vault world record on a Diamond League night to remember
For a man who always seems so laidback and unhurried, Mondo Duplantis has been on a fast track to producing an extraordinary body of sporting work. The Olympic Stadium in Stockholm has borne witness to many remarkable moments since it was opened for the 1912 Games, but the darling of the home crowd breaking the pole vault world record for a 12th time with a clearance of 6.28m on Sunday (June 15) – and at the first time of asking – must surely rank high among them all.
There is a “walk of fame” on the way into the arena to commemorate notable achievements to have taken place within its walls. It won’t be long until Duplantis’ name is carved into that pantheon.
The significance and weight of that is part of the reason why Duplantis wanted to break the world record in the city he calls home and at the Bauhaus Galan Diamond League meeting. He might have been born in Louisiana, but with a Swedish mother and extended family, he chose to compete internationally for the Scandinavian nation and in a stadium where he first competed at the age of 11.
This was, as he put it, his “big dream” and it became reality in remarkable style. Many of that extended family were there to see it for themselves, too.
Duplantis entered the competition at 5.60m, which he cleared with little trouble. The same applied for his subsequent leaps of 5.70m, 5.80m, 5.90m and 6.00m. By then the competition was comfortably won, with Australian Kurtis Marschall the opponent who got closest with his clearance of 5.90m.
That left the stage clear for the star man to do “the thing” and the bar went straight to 6.28m, once centimetre higher than the mark he set indoors in France earlier this year. There have been occasions, such as during the Paris Olympics last summer, when the two-time outdoor world champion has heightened the drama by breaking the world record with his very last attempt. This time, he needed just one.
“I feel full to the brim right now,” he said, as the dust settled after the raucous celebrations during which he tore off his shirt and ran into the crowd.
“The first time I jumped in this stadium when I was 11 years old it was rainy, cold and I jumped right under 4m. It was quite high for how young I was. I’ve jumped a lot here and they etch the names of world record holders here.
“The last one was a long time ago. My mum was in the stands when Patrik Sjöberg broke the [high jump] world record in 1986. I think there’s a common denominator here, she’s a lucky charm. It’s going to be really special to have my name etched in the stadium. It’s the most beautiful stadium in my biased opinion. It’ll be one of the greatest memories for me in my career.”
The two-time Olympic champion is a keen musician and even released a track called Bop earlier this year. He insists there is another on the way soon. When it comes to the day job, he just produces hit after hit.
The women’s pole vault competition had taken place 24 hours previously, with USA’s Sandi Morris proving to be a comfortable winner with a best jump of 4.82m. Angelica Moser of Switzerland was second with 4.63m.
As it turned out, a number of records tumbled on a hugely memorable night of top quality athletics. There was even more reason for the Stockholm crowd to celebrate shortly after Duplantis’ amazing feat, when Andreas Almgren destroyed the European record in the men’s 5000m, proving to a runaway success as he clocked 12:44.27.
Behind him came Ethiopia’s Kuma Girma in 12:57.46, with Australia’s Ky Robinson running a PB of 12:58.38 for third. Olympic 1500m champion Cole Hocker was seventh in 13:09.36.
Another European record fell in the women’s 3000m, too, as British teenager Innes FitzGerald produced a performance of remarkable maturity in her first Diamond League appearance, breaking her own continental U20 mark of 8:40.05 with a superb run of 8:32.90 in finishing third.
The top seven all recorded personal bests in a race won by Linden Hall’s PB of 8:30.01, with Sarah Chelangat breaking the Ugandan record in 8:31.27. FitzGerald’s fellow Briton, Hannah Nuttall, has never run faster either and came fourth in 8:33.82.
There was a meeting record for Femke Bol, who won the women’s 400m hurdles for the fifth time in a row and broke her own mark of 52.27 with a run of 52.11. She was pursued by former world record-holder Dalilah Muhammad, who ran a season’s best of 52.91 and Panama’s Gianna Woodruff (53.99).
After Karsten Warholm’s spectacular 300m hurdles showing at the Bislett Games just a few days previously, last summer’s three Olympic medallists faced off again, but this time over the 400m hurdles.
Despite Warholm leading into the closing straight, Paris gold medallist Rai Benjamin came out on top this time around, finishing stronger as he hit the line in 46.54, not only a meeting record but a world lead. Alison dos Santos was second in 46.68 as the Norwegian – clearly feeling the effects of his busy week – had to settle for third in 47.41. Britain’s Alastair Chalmers was fifth in 48.63.
The women’s 100m hurdles also saw a meeting record as Grace Stark of the USA (12.33/1.4) edged out Ackera Nugent’s 12.37 and the Netherlands’ Nadine Visser ran 12.49.
Having run 10.89 at the Bislett Games, Julien Alfred had the Stockholm meeting record of 10.88 in her sights. The Olympic champion duly accomplished that mission as she stormed to a time of 10.75 (0.9) while there was also an improvement from Olso for Dina Asher-Smith, who ran a season’s best 10.93, with Marie Josee Ta Lou-Smith clocking 11.00. Daryll Neita was fifth in a season’s best of 11.17.
On a night when a number of British athletes were in action, Georgia Hunter Bell may not have produced the tidiest of races but she won the hard way, coming through on the outside in the closing stages to take the women’s 800m in 1:57.66.
Her final surge saw her come past Kenyan world champion Mary Moraa (1:57.83), while Prudence Sekgodiso of South Africa (1:58.00) was third, and 2024 word indoor silver medallist Jemma Reekie was fifth in 1:58.66.
There were fireworks in the men’s 800m race, too, as Olympic champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi continued his winning form, this time recording a world lead of 1:41.95. He could not be stopped, despite the best efforts of Paris bronze medallist Djamel Sedjati (1:42.27) while America’s world indoor champion Josh Hoey clocked a PB of 1:42.43 in third.
After breaking the British 5000m record in Oslo, George Mills threw himself back into action but this time in a 1500m race that wasn’t part of the Diamond League programme.
Though not surprisingly admitting to some tiredness given his exploits earlier in the week, the European 5000m silver medallist did try to assert himself on the race and went with the pacemakers, eventually finishing fifth in 3:32.67 as Sweden’s Samuel Philstrom came through to win in 3:31.53 from Italy’s Federico Riva (3:32.17).
As in Oslo, honours in the women’s 400m went to Isabella Whittaker, the American (49.78) once again edging out Norwegian Henriette Jaeger (50.07), while world indoor champion Amber Anning’s 50.17 in third was her quickest time of the year. The men’s 200m saw another victory for Oslo winner Reynier Mena, the Cuban running 20.05.
A first-time clearance of 2.01m gave Nicola Olyslagers victory in the women’s high jump. The Olympic bronze medallist, who had three failed attempts at 2.03m, saw off world record-holder and Paris 2024 champion Yaroslava Mahuchikh, who had cleared 1.99m but was unable to go higher. A jump of 1.93m handed third to Poland’s Maria Zodzik.
Olympic champion Tara Davis-Woodhall led the women’s long jump from start to finish thanks to an opening leap of 7.05m that was the furthest of the night and equalled the meeting record. European silver medallist Larissa Iapichino was second with 6.90m, while Olympic bronze medal winner Jasmine Moore also managed her biggest jump in the third round, reaching 6.76m.
Despite a final round throw of 69.53m, Swedish star Daniel Stahl had to settle for second in a men’s discus competition that went to the in-form Kristjan Ceh. The 2022 world champion reached 69.73m in the third round, with Australia’s Olympic bronze medallist Matthew Denny managing a best of 68.14. British record-holder Lawrence Okoye was seventh with 64.15m.
