Mondo Duplantis in Diamond League action (© Marta Gorczynska / Diamond League AG)
Swedish pole vault supremo Mondo Duplantis will return to the London Stadium for the first time since 2018 when he competes at the Novuna London Athletics Meet – the 11th meeting in the 2026 Wanda Diamond League series – on 18 July.
The 26-year-old won his third World Athletics Championships gold medal in Tokyo and his fifth successive Diamond League title in Zurich this year. Those performances were among the moments recognised at the World Athletics Awards on Sunday (30), when Duplantis was announced as the Men’s World Athlete of the Year.
He has broken the world record 14 times since 2020, most recently clearing a gravity-defying 6.30m when retaining his world title in Tokyo.
Duplantis competed in the London Stadium for the first time as a 17-year-old, finishing ninth at the 2017 World Championships. He returned one year later, finishing third in the Anniversary Games behind the USA’s Sam Kendricks and Renaud Lavillenie of France. His only other UK Diamond League appearance came in Gateshead in 2021, when he finished second to Kendricks.
“It’s been too long since I last competed in London,” said Duplantis, who will target Lavillenie’s meeting record of 6.03m which has stood since 2015.
“My first ever World Championships was at the Olympic Stadium in 2017 and although I was still pretty inexperienced, I could appreciate the incredible atmosphere, so it means a lot to me to go back. There’s just something about that place.
“Every year I see athletes raise their game in the London Diamond League so I’m excited to get out there and use that crowd noise to my advantage. I’ve never won in London, so obviously that’s the main goal.”
Organisers for World Athletics
