Duplantis’ high ambition – to be best pole vaulter in history
World record holder is clear about his targets as he competes in Glasgow today, writes Ben Bloom
For an insight into new pole vault world record holder Armand Duplantis’s mindset, go back to 2017. Having already set world bests at every age from seven to 12, that summer he jumped 5.90 metres, the record for a 17-year-old. By way of comparison, no British pole vaulter of any age has come close.
It was impressive going for someone still in high school, but meant little to Duplantis himself.
“At this point I don’t care about being the best 17-year-old ever,” said Duplantis, as he took his first steps on to the senior global circuit. “That’s cool. But now
I want to be the best in the world.
“Before I retire I want to be the best pole vaulter who ever lived. I want to break the world record, win Olympic gold and win World Championship gold.”
It came as little surprise that he set a world best by clearing 6.17m in Torun, Poland, last week just a few months after his 20th birthday. With Duplantis, there has always been a sense of inevitability.
His is a sporting story that began when he first tried pole vaulting aged four. Born to an American pole vaulter father and a Swedish heptathlete mother, Duplantis grew up with a pole vault pit in his back garden in Louisiana, as well as a trampoline, batting cage and every ball imaginable. It was a playground heaven and the perfect breeding ground for greatness.
Andreas, the eldest of the three Duplantis brothers, was the first to follow in his father’s footsteps by competing in the pole vault at the World Junior Championships, while middle brother Antoine last year broke his university’s all-time baseball hits record.
Such a high-achieving and competitive environment helped the youngest Duplantis brother thrive. “Most of it is down to my brothers,” he said, on the eve of today’s Muller Grand Prix in Glasgow. “I had an older brother who I could look up to and then I had somebody in Antoine to compete against.
“We jumped pretty much the same height so had great
‘Most of it is down to my brothers. I had one to look up to and one I could compete against’
competitions and we would go at it until he was like, ‘I don’t feel like doing this with you any more’.”
Given how quickly Duplantis outgrew his peers, it is no surprise Antoine bailed out early. Aided by custom-made poles from the start of his “career”, records started to fall almost instantly. Aged 14 he had already vaulted higher than a London double-decker bus while claiming numerous high-school honours. In 2015 he won the world youth title, in 2018 the world junior and European senior titles, and last summer his first global medal as an adult, world silver, despite calling himself a “big fat college kid”.
At that stage he had only just turned professional after dropping out one year into a stint at Louisiana State University – a move he credits with his recent world record. “I wasn’t going out every night, but I tried not to let athletics overpower me where I couldn’t live any life,” he says. “But since then I’ve cut out a lot.
“This is my first year as a professional – I’m not a college kid any more – so I wanted to take it pretty professionally. I try to eat better, I have a better sleep schedule, take recovery more seriously and train harder.”
Should he claim Sweden’s first Olympic athletics gold in 16 years this summer, there will be many in the United States wondering how they let him get away.
Having held dual citizenship since birth, he opted to represent his mother’s nation, partly to avoid the pitfalls of a risky US Olympics trials format that leaves no margin for a bad day at the office.
The most pressing question now is whether he can continue to reach new heights today in Glasgow and beyond. “I’ve always tried to not put a limit on myself,” he says. “There are endless possibilities.”