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≡ MONDO CLASSIC ≡
No reason not to set a world record when you’re at your own meet and that’s exactly what Swedish star Mondo Duplantis did at the Mondo Classic indoors in Uppsala (SWE) on Thursday, clearing 6.31 m (20-8 1/2) on his first try.
He had eight outstanding competitors against him, but only Norway’s Sondre Gottormsen could clear 6.00 m (19-8 1/4) and he would up second, ahead of American stars Zach Bradford and Sam Kendricks, both of whom cleared 5.90 m (19-4 1/4) to place 3-4. Australia’s Kurtis Marschall was fifth, also at 5.90 m.
Duplantis cleared 5.65 m (18-6 1/2) on his first try, then 5.90 m on his first and 6.08 m (19-11 1/4) on his first, winning the meet. The bar immediately went to a world-record 6.31 m, and he snaked over the bar, leaving it twitching, but still on!
Still just 26, Duplantis has been re-writing the record book with regularity, with 15 world marks so far:
● 2020: 2 ~ 6.17 mi (20-2 3/4) and 6.18 mi (20-3 1/4)
● 2021: 0
● 2022: 3 ~ 6.19 mi (20-3 3/4), 6.20 mi (20-4), 6.21 m (20-4 1/2)
● 2023: 2 ~ 6.22 mi (20-4 3/4), 6.23 m (20-5 1/4)
● 2024: 3 ~ 6.24 m (20-5 1/2), 6.25 m (20-6), 6.26 m (20-7 1/4)
● 2025: 4 ~ 6.27 mi (20-6 3/4), 6.28 m (20-7 1/4), 6.29 m (20-7 1/2), 6.30 m (20-8)
● 2026: 1 ~ 6.31 mi (20-8 1/2)
That’s seven set indoors and eight set outdoors, and since getting over 6.19 m in March 2022, he has been hammering out world records quickly:
● 6.19 mi (2022): required 6 tries in 2020, 30 in 2021 and 15 in 2022 (51 total)
● 6.20 mi (2022): required 3 tries to clear, across 1 more meet
● 6.21 m (2022): required 2 tries (1 more meet)
● 6.22 mi (2023): required 9 tries (3 more meets)
● 6.23 m (2023): required 16 tries (6 more meets)
● 6.24 m (2024): required 7 tries (3 more meets)
● 6.25 m (2024): required 18 tries (6 more meets)
● 6.26 m (2024): required 2 tries (1 more meet)
● 6.27 mi (2025): required 3 tries (2 more meets)
● 6.28 m (2025): required 7 tries (3 more meets)
● 6.29 m (2025): required 11 tries (4 more meets)
● 6.30 m (2025): required 3 tries (1 more meet)
● 6.31 mi (2026): required 4 tries (2 more meets)
(The number of meets noted counts only competitions where he tried a world-record height, not every other meet he competed in between records.)
Although he has vaulted higher than anyone else, the question can still be asked whether he is the greatest vaulter in history.
The reason to ask is because the track & field athlete with the most world records in history is another vaulter, former Soviet and Ukrainian star Sergey Bubka. According to the World Athletics’ Progression of World Records book (2024 ed.), the athletes with the most ratified world marks – combining indoor and outdoor – are:
● 27: Sergey Bubka (URS-UKR): pole vault, 1984-94
● 22: Paavo Nurmi (FIN): distances, 1922-31
● 22: Werner Hardmo (SWE), distances, 1943-45
In terms of counting, Bubka had an edge because when he competed, indoor and outdoor records were ratified separately. In 2000, the rule was changed and Duplantis can set a record anywhere, indoors or out, but does not get separate credit.
Duplantis is only 26; Bubka set records between the ages of 20-30 and competed into 2001, when he was 37. And at the rate he is producing records – five in little more than a year – Duplantis could catch Bubka, perhaps in 2029?
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