NEW YORK – With a thirteenth world document within the bag and an limitless starvation for accolades to match his high-flying antics, peerless pole vaulter Mondo Duplantis brings real superstar swagger to this month’s World Athletics Championships.
The back-to-back Olympic champion gave followers a style of what to anticipate in Tokyo when he soared over 6.29 metres in Budapest final month, the newest in a sequence of performances which have left sports activities writers struggling for superlatives.
“I really like pushing myself and I really like making an attempt to get probably the most out of myself,” Duplantis stated within the run-up to the September 13-21 biennial showpiece.
“I simply have this actual inner drive and motivation that I simply wish to preserve being higher. I’ve short-term reminiscence loss. I most likely do not let it soak in and neglect my accomplishments too shortly.”
The record-keepers can be fast to remind him: The 25-year-old has misplaced simply 4 occasions since he broke his first world document in February 2020, hovering 6.17m to interrupt Frenchman Renaud Lavillenie’s document of 6.16m set six years prior.
He picked up his fifth Diamond League trophy at Zurich final month, two shy of Lavillenie’s document, after holding off Greek rival Emmanouil Karalis when he bought over 6.00m on the fifth strive.
And whereas subject occasions have lengthy performed second-fiddle to the high-octane observe, the Swede’s profile will rival the most important celebrities on the blocks at Tokyo’s Nationwide Stadium.
With appears and charisma which have drawn frequent comparisons to Hollywood star Timothee Chalamet, Duplantis has emerged because the form of A-lister athletics has craved since Usain Bolt retired.
“It is a whole lot of recognition in fact,” stated Duplantis, who already has a pair of world titles to match his Olympic haul.
“It is at all times fairly large so far as simply the affect that it has each time I break the document, which is sort of cool. There’s an increasing number of, I suppose, actually cool those who ship me congrats and whatnot.”
He has used the identical tools since he first hit the 6.20m mark in Belgrade three years in the past, and conceded {that a} change to a stiffer pole could also be essential to preserve his document run going.
“I’ve one pole that is only a tiny bit stiffer that I’ve tried to make use of and I have not actually been in a position to make use of it, however I have not additionally tried it after I’m in actually fine condition,” he advised reporters.
“Hopefully within the close to future after I when I’m making an attempt to get just some extra centimetres even out of myself, then I plan to go to a different pole.”
—Reuters
