The gold favourite Armand Duplantis only needed one jump to secure a place in the European Championship in Rome. On Wednesday, he can take his ninth championship gold – and 570,000 kronor.
When the world record holder cleared 5.60 – and made it with almost half a metre to spare – many competitors had already been eliminated. There were some tricky winds at the Olympic Stadium in Rome, but Duplantis was never worried.
He does not think the wind will cause any problems in the final on Wednesday evening.
To lure the stars to the European Championship when the Olympics are the main goal, the European Athletics Association (EA) has introduced bonus money. 50,000 euros, approximately 570,000 kronor, will go to the winner in five different event groups on the women's and men's sides. The winner is determined by a points system that athletics has, depending on the results in each event. The pole vault group also includes high jump, long jump, and triple jump.
It looks like Mondo Duplantis needs to clear 6.05 to secure the bonus. This is after the Greek Miltiadis Tentoglou jumped 8.65 in the long jump. The Greek is also certain that he will not get any money, he has said to Aftonbladet.
Duplantis says he feels confident about clearing 6.05.
Another Swede who has the opportunity to get the bonus money of over half a million is the winner in the walk, Perseus Karlström.
In the walk's event group, half-marathon, decathlon, and the relays (4x400 and 4x100 metres) are also included.
