I can go higher, says pole vault champ Duplantis

OLYMPIC pole vault champion Armand Duplantis said he was confident of raising his world record still further a er he came close to se ing a new best in the Tokyo final.

Duplantis secured gold with 6.02m and then came agonisingly close on his record a empt of 6.19m. But the 21-year-old Swede said he had plenty more to come.

“I definitely think I can jump higher than I’ve jumped so far,” he said at an event organised by official timekeeper Omega.

“Into the 6.20s, this is very possible for me, especially considering the way I felt over 6.19 a couple of nights ago.”

A er Sergey Bubka’s world record of 6.14m stood for 20 years, France’s Renaud Lavillenie jumped 6.16m in 2014, but Duplantis has taken the event to new heights, raising the record to 6.18m.

He said it was a “bit of a bummer” that his good friend, American Sam Kendricks, missed Tuesday’s final a er being ruled out by coronavirus and he believes he could have jumped higher with the reigning world champion present.

“He’s somebody that very well could have pushed me to some higher heights. And I think we could have definitely done something even more special than what happened.”

Duplantis said he was in regular touch with Kendricks during his isolation in Tokyo.