Sweden’s Armand Duplantis broke the men’s pole vault world record for a 14th time on his way to gold at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo.
Duplantis hit new heights with a third time clearance of 6.30m to continue his tradition of beating his own previous record by one centimetre and secured his third consecutive world title.
With the track events completed in Monday night session at Tokyo’s National Stadium, all eyes were on Duplantis who put on a show for the 60,000 spectators by making history again.
The 25-year-old was close with his first attempt and even closer with his second, just flicking the bar with his thigh as the crowd gasped. Surrounded by his competitors, Duplantis composed himself before his last effort and cleared the bar, sprinting into huge celebrations.
Duplantis has dominated men’s pole vault for the last six years, first breaking Frenchman Renaud Lavillenie’s world record of 6.17m in February 2020.
Since then, he’s bettered the record in one-centimetre increments as it is understood Duplantis receives sponsorship bonuses every time he breaks the world record.
Designated World Athletics meetings also hand out bonuses of up to $100,000 (£74,000), plus the competition award.
Greece’s Emmanouil Karalis took silver with a best jump of 6.00m, after three close attempts at clearing 6.10m, 6.15m and 6.20m to try and upset Duplantis.
Australia’s Kurtis Marschall claimed bronze for the second consecutive World Championships.
Armand Duplantis’ world record timeline
| Date | City | Height (m) |
|---|---|---|
| February 8, 2020 | Torun, Poland | 6.17 |
| February 15, 2020 | Glasgow, UK | 6.18 |
| March 7, 2022 | Belgrade, Serbia | 6.19 |
| March 20, 2022 | Belgrade, Serbia | 6.20 |
| July 24, 2022 | Eugene, USA | 6.21 |
| February 25, 2023 | Clermont-Ferrand, France | 6.22 |
| September 17, 2023 | Eugene, USA | 6.23 |
| April 20, 2024 | Xiamen, China | 6.24 |
| August 5, 2024 | Paris, France | 6.25 |
| August 25, 2024 | Chorzow, Poland | 6.26 |
| February 28, 2025 | Clermont-Ferrand, France | 6.27 |
| June 15, 2025 | Stockholm, Sweden | 6.28 |
| August 12, 2025 | Budapest, Hungary | 6.29 |
| September 15, 2025 | Tokyo, Japan | 6.30 |
Elsewhere on Monday, Switzerland’s Ditaji Kambundji shocked the field by winning the women’s 100m hurdles. New Zealand’s Geordie Beamish took a surprise victory in the men’s 3000m steeplechase and Canada’s Camryn Rogers successfully defended her hammer throw world title.
The men’s marathon was decided by a photo finish with Tanzania’s Alphonce Felix Simbu pipping Germany’s Amanol Petros by only 0.03s.
British trio Josh Kerr, Jake Wightman and Neil Gourley progressed to the men’s 1500m final after two tightly contested semi-finals.
Defending champion Kerr is one of the big favourites for Wednesday’s final which is one of Britain’s biggest chances to win gold this week in Tokyo.
BBC