The Swede made history, becoming Olympic champion for the second time and breaking his own record by clearing a height of 6.25 metres in Paris.
Armand Duplantis made history at Paris 2024: gold medal and new world record (Patrick Smith/Getty Images).
With the 2024 Paris Olympics as his stage, Armand Duplantis has made history once again. This time, not only with a gold medal in pole vault, but also by setting another world record, of 6.25 metres.
From the moment the Swede raised the bar to that height, the stadium came to a standstill. Of course, it was no wonder: Mondo had already set a new Olympic record by clearing 6.10 metres in his penultimate attempt, thus surpassing the 6.03 metres set by the Brazilian Thiago Braz in 2016. The expectation was such that even the medal ceremony for the 100-metre dash was postponed, to see if the athlete could achieve the feat he set out to achieve. His first attempt, however, was unsuccessful, after he supported himself with his hands despite having managed to clear the bar with the rest of his body.
Armand Duplantis, ever closer to heaven at the Olympic Games (Richard Heathcote/Getty Images).
On his second attempt, this time, he arrived after the 100-meter flat medal ceremony. Even so, he was disqualified again – this time for touching the bar with his hands and feet – and it seemed that the record would not be broken. On the third attempt, however, Duplantis made history and beat the mark he had set himself on April 20 in Xiamen by 0.01 centimeters. Immediately after landing on the mats, he ran to celebrate his achievement with Renaud Lavillenie – winner of the gold medal in pole vaulting in London 2012 and one of the leading figures in the discipline – and his family.
With this achievement, Duplantis rang the bell announcing the new record, as well as posing with the result of his milestone, one that he reached after having been left competing alone, as his podium companions Sam Kendricks (United States) and Emmanouil Karalis (Greece) fell by the wayside with 5.95 and 5.90 meters, respectively.
Records are nothing new for Duplantis, who has long been his own competition. He arrived in Paris as the owner of the world’s best record and is continuing to improve that milestone. The best example of how monstrous the Swede’s record is is that, of the 30 remaining competitors in the discipline for these Olympic Games, only five reached over six metres. Now, his second Olympic medal (he had already won it in Tokyo 2020) will be added to a trophy cabinet that already includes two World Championships (2022 and 2023) outdoors and two indoors (2022 and 2024), three European World Championships outdoors and one indoor.
Thiago Braz congratulates Duplantis for breaking his Olympic record
Shortly after Duplantis far surpassed Thiago Braz’s Olympic record of 6.03 metres at Rio 2016, the Brazilian athlete took to social media to celebrate the Swede’s achievement in Paris.
“Congratulations, lad! An incredible jump to win the gold medal and the world record again,” Braz said in a message posted on his social media. It is worth mentioning that the Brazilian missed the Olympic event due to having to serve a ban for a positive doping test, something that prevented him from qualifying in time despite having returned to compete in 2024.
All Olympic records for men in athletics
- 100 metros 9s63 Usain Bolt (Jamaica) 2012
- 200 metros 19s30 Usain Bolt (Jamaica) 2008
- 400 meters 43s03 Wayde van Niekerk (South Africa) 2016
- 800 meters 1m40s91 David Rudisha (Kenya) 2012
- 1,500 meters 3m28s32 Jakob Ingebrigtsen (Norway) 2021
- 5.000 metros 12m57s82 Kenenisa Bekele (Ethiopia) 2008
- 10.000 metros 26m43s14 Joshua Cheptegei (Uganda) 2024
- 110 mts. con vallas 12s91 Liu Xiang (China) 2004
- 400 mts. con vallas 45s94 Karsten Warholm (Norway) 2021
- 3,000 m steeplechase 8m03s28 Conseslus Kipruto (Kenya) 2016
- 20km walk 1h18m46s Chen Ding (China) 2012
- 50km walk 3h36m53s Jared Tallent (Australia) 2012
- Maratón 2h06m32 Samuel Wanjiru (Kenia) 2008
- High jump 2.39 metres Charles Austin (USA) 1996
- Pole Vault 6.25m Armand Duplantis (Sweden) 2024
- Long jump 8.90 metres Bob Beamon (USA) 1968
- Triple jump 18.09 metres Kenny Harrison (USA) 1996
- Shot put 23.30 metres Ryan Crouser (USA) 2021
- Discus throw 69.89 meters Virgilijus Alekna (Lithuania) 2004
- Hammer Throw 84.80 metres Sergey Litninov (Soviet Union) 1988
- Javelin throw 90.57 metres Andreas Thorkildsen (Norway) 2008
- Decathlon 9,018 points Damian Warner (Canada) 2021
- Relevo de 4×100 36s84 Nesta Carter, Michael Frater, Yohan Blake, Usain Bolt (Jamaica) 2012
- Relevo de 4×400 2m55s39 LaShawn Merritt, Angelo Taylor, David Neville, Jeremy Wariner (EE.UU.) 2008
Don’t miss anything
Get the latest news on Paris 2024 and more!
