Armand Duplantis' highest dream is to set a world record on his favorite arena, Stockholm's Stockholms Stadion.
He hopes to be able to do it at the Diamond League gala tomorrow.
He improved his world record in pole vaulting to 6.24 in the outdoor premiere in Xiamen, China in April. After a six-meter jump in the second Diamond League competition in China, Mondo Duplantis has been training until now. He skipped the Diamond League competition in Oslo on Thursday to come well-prepared to his absolute favorite arena – where he would love to set a world record.
He says he is "jacked" and that the gala in Stockholm is his favorite competition. He also says that there are conditions for jumping high in Stockholm, that the approach path is fast enough.
The most memorable thing from last year was not so much about jumping as about the weather – rain and cold. So much rain that the pole vaulters refused to start, for safety reasons, and the competition was postponed by two hours. Duplantis won, of course – with a jump of 6.05. He also tried the then-world record height of 6.23 and despite the crowd staying in the cold to cheer him on, it was not a record.
The conditions for a record jump look very good ahead of Sunday, with sun and heat and light wind.
The 24-year-old says that with the successes, he has gotten used to other people's expectations.
2018, Diamond League: 5.86 meters.
2019, Finnkampen: 6.00.
2020, Diamond League: 6.01.
2022, Diamond League: 6.16.
2023, Diamond League: 6.05.
