Mondo Duplantis completed a hat-trick of World Championships medals, reaffirming his peerless status in men’s pole vault. And he did it in breathtaking fashion — breaking the world record for the 14th time, and for a staggering fourth time this year, by soaring over 6.30m in Tokyo on Monday, 15 September.
A generational athlete in the company of Usain Bolt, Simone Biles and Michael Phelps, Duplantis once again turned sport into theatre, delivering a spectacle that only he and the pole vault fraternity can conjure.
It seemed as though Duplantis was determined not to leave Tokyo — the city where he first claimed Olympic gold in 2021 — without yet another world record. He roused the crowd, transformed rivals into cheerleaders, and produced moments of magic that will live long in memory.
The atmosphere was in stark contrast to when he won the gold in the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 when there were only limited fans due to Covid-19 pandemic.
He cleared 6.30m with his third and final attempt, ending Day 3 of the championships on a rousing, almost cinematic note.
The quality of the 12-man field was unprecedented: seven athletes cleared 5.90m — a first in World Championships history. Yet, the battle for gold quickly distilled into a two-man showdown: Duplantis versus Emmanouil Karalis.
Karalis, the Greek star, was magnificent in his own right. He cleared the 6m mark, attempted 6.10m — which would have been a personal best — and then, inspired by Duplantis, raised the bar to 6.20m. He was unable to conquer the improbable, though, and settled for silver at 6m, having run out of attempts after misses at 6.10m and 6.15m.
Duplantis, having already secured gold, turned his sights to history. On the eve of the event, he had promised to chase the world record and better his 6.29m mark set just last month in Budapest.
He came agonisingly close on his first try, his fingertips clipping the bar on the way down. His second attempt missed by a whisker too. With five minutes on the clock for his third, the National Stadium was brimming with tension.
SILVER MEDALIST TURNS CHEERLEADER
In one of the evening’s most touching moments, Karalis — rival and friend — sat beside Duplantis, holding a fan to help him cool down. Moments later, Karalis was leading the cheers, orchestrating the crowd as Duplantis prepared for his final run-up. It was sport at its purest: competition, camaraderie, and shared theatre.
And then it happened. Duplantis ran hard, soared, and cleared 6.30m — his fourth world record of the year. The stadium erupted.
He sprinted straight into Karalis’s arms, embracing the man who had cheered him on in the moment of truth. In the stands, his father wept with joy. On the track, Duplantis sealed the moment with a passionate kiss to his girlfriend.
“It’s better than I could have imagined. To give you guys this world record is amazing. The crowd was so loud. Thank you so much. I’m just so happy,” Duplantis said, beaming.
Tokyo has already provided track and field fans with unforgettable moments — Melissa Jefferson-Wooden stunning a star-studded field to win 100m gold, Noah Lyles finally losing his crown in the 100m to Jamaica in front of Usain Bolt, and a photo-finish marathon.
But on Monday night, Duplantis’s love story with Tokyo may just have eclipsed them all.
