With 80,000 pairs of eyes on him, he stepped into Stade de France to do what everyone expected.
To win gold.
Armand Duplantis did not disappoint.
The Swede excelled as usual and was far above the heights. After four jumps and six meters, the victory was clear – but he had not finished jumping.
The 24-year-old cleared 6.10 for an Olympic record and then raised the bar to the world record height of 6.25.
Two fouls were followed by a new world record in front of an ecstatic audience at Stade de France.
It's hard to understand. How can it be real? So damn fun, says Duplantis to Max about the world record party in the OS arena.
It was the sickest thing I've been through, so damn many people and so much energy. So much noise when I ran and on the approach.
After the gold and the world record, he hugged his parents and gave his girlfriend a kiss.
It's hard to explain (what they mean). I'm so close to my family and (girlfriend) Desiré and her family. All my best buddies and friends are here on site. All my closest, everyone is here. So I'm going to party so damn much with them tonight, it's going to be totally sick. And there's nothing that can beat it, he says in the TV interview.
Triggered by world record attempts
Before the Paris OS, Armand Duplantis said he couldn't decide which memory he prefers to have after his career; most gold or most high jumps.
After some thinking and started sentences, he finally landed on a thought.
— It's everything, the whole journey.
In everything and the whole journey, there is a feeling that stands out a little extra much and which he prefers above all else on athletics tracks. Duplantis' favorite moment is when he stands on the approach runway and is ready to take on the world record.
— I'm much less nervous. The jump must be perfect and I must let my body just take over; I must trust the pole, trust the approach, he said.
— When the bar is higher and higher, then I jump better and better. There's nothing to compare with that feeling. It's almost like an "out-of-body feeling".
On the purple approach runway, in front of family and friends, at Stade de France, he got to experience exactly that.
The audience's jubilation
The jubilation rose to ear-deafening levels in the arena when Duplantis took his first steps and to tinnitus levels when he succeeded and the bar remained while he himself sailed down towards the mat.
Thus, he polished the world record for the eighth time since the first time in Polish Torun 2020.
The journey took three hours and 19 minutes.
