The pole vaulter known as “Mondo” really knows how to impress. With the track events at the Olympics done for the night and the 80,000-strong crowd at the Stade de France still cheering, Armand Duplantis rested his pole on his right shoulder and took a deep breath.
He then lifted the long carbon fiber pole and sprinted down the runway, launching into the night sky.
Another Olympic gold medal was already his. When he landed in the padding after clearing the high, pink-tinted bar, he had also set a new world record.
Duplantis, a 24-year-old from Louisiana who competes for Sweden, cleared 6.25 meters (20 feet, 6 inches) to break the world record for the ninth time, and this was his first time doing it at the Olympics.
His next move was to run to the stands to hug his girlfriend and celebrate his record and second Olympic gold with friends and family in yellow and blue. Sweden’s king and queen were also there to witness this historic moment in pole vaulting.
“It’s hard to understand, honestly,” he said. “If I don’t top this moment in my career, then I’m pretty OK with that. I don’t think you can get much better than what just happened.” It was fitting that this dramatic moment happened with Noah Lyles also in attendance.
The night after the American sprint star impressed with a win in the men’s 100 meters by just .005 seconds, Lyles was there to get his gold medal and watch Duplantis dazzle the crowd by clearing 6.25 meters, about the height of a typical two-story building.
The excitement unfolded over a half hour at the end of the night, after the women’s 5,000 meters race and Keely Hodgkinson’s win in the 800 meters, which was the last track event of the evening.
Usually, this would be a time when people start leaving. But Mondo’s performance was worth waiting for, and most people did.
“Mondo is an amazing jumper because of four things,” said American Sam Kendricks, who finished second. “He has a great coach, he’s had a lot of time to practice, he uses great equipment, and he’s passionate about the sport. Plus, he seems to have a special touch.”
By winning his second consecutive gold medal and breaking the record for the ninth time — each time by just one centimeter — Duplantis is now considered one of the greatest ever in this event, alongside Sergei Bubka.
Duplantis is also seen as one of the most dominant athletes in field events, similar to America’s Ryan Crouser, who holds the shot put world record and has won three gold medals.
And when it comes to putting on a great show, Duplantis is in a league of his own.
After securing his win against Kendricks and setting a new Olympic record by clearing 6.10 meters, Duplantis had the bar raised to one centimeter higher than the world-record height.
After missing his first attempt at the new height, he used the time while Lyles was getting his gold medal for the 100 meters to watch video on a tablet with his parents, who met decades ago while both were on the LSU track and field team.
He missed again, then took another long break.
The crowd clapped and sang along to the French song “Alleur de Feu” — “Light the Fire” — as they prepared for Duplantis’s historic jump.
Duplantis, a local talent, started learning pole vaulting on a pit his parents made in their backyard in Lafayette, Louisiana.
During many afternoons of practice in that pit, Duplantis often imagined himself setting a world record on his final jump at the Olympics.
While the stadium had mostly emptied out, the song “Dancing Queen” by the Swedish band ABBA was playing loudly outside.
“For it to actually happen the way it did and for me to get the right jump at the right moment, it’s just beyond words for me,” he said. “It’s bigger than words can express.”
