Record-breaking Duplantis keeps on raising the bar
Swede soars to pole vault record on thrilling final day at world championships
EUGENE, Oregon — Armand Duplantis wrapped up the World Athletics Championships in Eugene in stunning fashion on Sunday, setting a new world record in the pole vault as the curtain came down on the 10-day global track-and-field extravaganza.
The gripping finale could not have been any better scripted for the first world championships ever to be held on American soil — maybe apart from the fact that the US-born-and-raised Duplantis was wearing the yellow and blue of Sweden and not representing the Stars and Stripes.
As the frenzied excitement of the 4x400m relays won by the US men and women died down, all eyes turned on Duplantis.
And the 22-year-old Swede did not disappoint, sailing with ease over 6.21 meters at the second time of asking.
The packed, raucous crowd at Hayward Field went wild as Duplantis sprinted to see his father and coach Greg and plant a kiss on girlfriend Desire Inglander.
“It is great, I cannot complain!” said Duplantis, whose new mark bettered by one centimeter his previous best set when winning gold at the world indoors in Belgrade in March.
It was his fifth world record, and third this year.
“Actually, I did not think about the record that much today,” he said. “Usually, it is always somewhere in the back of my mind, but today I was really focused on the win and I really wanted to win the gold so badly. It was the medal I was missing.
“I love jumping in Eugene and it was amazing here. I cannot figure the next heights right now. I am going to have a bit of time off with my family and my friends.”
Hurdles history
Unheralded Nigerian Tobi Amusan had earlier stolen the show with two electric runs on her way to gold in the 100m hurdles.
In the very first event of a loaded evening of track, people barely had a chance to sit down with their sodas and popcorn before Amusan rocketed to a new world record of 12.12 seconds in the semifinals.
When she retook to the track later in the session, the Nigerian stormed to victory in 12.06 sec, although a tail-wind speed of 2.5 meters per second meant it wouldn’t go down in the freshly inked record books.
“The goal was to come out and to win this gold. I just did it,” said Amusan, who finished ahead of Jamaica’s Britany Anderson and Olympic champion Jasmine Camacho-Quinn of Puerto Rico.
“I believe in my abilities but I was not expecting a world record at these championships.”
American Athing Mu lived up to the hype by adding the world 800m title to her Olympic crown.
Mu, still only 20 years of age, was forced to dig deep to hold off British rival Keely Hodgkinson in a thrilling battle down the final straight before taking gold in a world-leading 1 min 56.30 sec.
“I’m just glad I made it to the line to finish the race, and thankfully I won gold. I just physically wasn’t where I would like to be,” Mu said.
Another gold medalist from last year’s Tokyo Olympics, Malaika Mihambo, won Germany a longawaited medal as she retained her long jump title.
But Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei floundered in a 5,000m race won convincingly by Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen, who bounced back from the disappointment of silver in the 1,500m.
“I didn’t want a sprint finish,” Ingebrigtsen said. “I wanted to prove that I’m a better runner than the rest of the guys.
“It was a great race. I ran it, I needed it. I felt really good today, but 5 kilometers is really tough.”
In the absence through injury of Olympic champion Damian Warner of Canada, France’s Kevin Mayer seized the moment to claim a second world decathlon gold.
Mayer accrued 8,816 points after 10 disciplines over two days to add to his world championships gold from 2017 in London.
Consolidating their place atop the medals table with a world championship record of 33 (13 gold, nine silver, 11 bronze), the United States claimed emphatic victories in both 4x400m relay finals, much to the delight of the partisan crowd.
Strength in depth saw recordbreaking 400m hurdles gold medalist Sydney McLaughlin anchor the women and individual 400m winner Michael Norman take a leg for the men’s quartet.
The women’s victory meant the now-retired Allyson Felix bagged a 20th world medal as she was a squad member who ran in Saturday’s heats.
Actually, I did not think about the record that much today. Usually, it is always somewhere in the back of my mind, but today I was really focused on the win and I really wanted to win the gold so badly.” Armand Duplantis, after setting his fifth world record in the pole vault