(IAAF News)
Sweden’s Mondo Duplantis raised his own world pole vault record once again at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Stockholm as he cleared 6.28m* at his first attempt in the 1912 Olympic Stadium on Sunday (15).
Breaking the world record is something the 25-year-old two-time Olympic champion had done on 11 previous occasions – but never before had he done so in his home stadium, and his joy was unbounded as he leapt from the pit, ripped off his shirt and pumped his fists amid the general uproar.
A first-time clearance of 6.00m had seen off the lingering challenge of his last rival on the day, Australia’s Kurtis Marschall, but rather than targeting his own meeting record of 6.16m, Duplantis set the bar straight up to a height one centimetre beyond the 6.27m he cleared indoors at Clermont-Ferrand in February.
Inside the final 30 seconds of allotted time after waiting for what little breeze there was to drop, the centre of attention matched all expectations as he sailed over with only the faintest of contact with the bar. World record number 12, and counting.
“I feel full to the brim right now,” said Duplantis, who cleared 6.15m in Oslo on Thursday. “I’ve got a lot of family here. The first time I jumped in this stadium when I was 11 years old, it was rainy and cold, and I jumped right under four metres – it was quite high for how young I was.
“I’m just going to enjoy this, enjoy the moment right now. There’s not much between me and 6.30m, technically. I’m just a perfect day away from it.”
Within 15 minutes the home crowd had further cause for celebration as Sweden’s Andreas Almgren set a European 5000m record of 12:44.27 after a grimly determined last lap timed at just over 58 seconds. The mark eclipsed the area record of 12:45.01 set in 2023 by Spain’s Mohamed Katir, who is currently serving a suspension.
“This is probably the most memorable night of my life and career so far,” said Almgren, who finished more than 13 seconds clear of runner-up Kuma Girma. “I wanted to give the spectators from my home city something to remember. When the pacemaker dropped off and Girma was unable to hold the pace, I decided to go for it – nobody remembers a coward.”
The buzz of excitement received a final charge as Olympic champion Rai Benjamin of the United States won the concluding men’s 400m hurdles in the seventh meeting record of a warm athlete-friendly evening, clocking 46.54 – the fastest time run so far this season.
