Mondo Duplantis
The love affair between Sweden men’s pole vaulter Mondo Duplantis and Hayward Field reached a new point in their relationship Sunday evening.
Duplantis closed out the first World Athletics Championships on U.S. soil in incredible fashion, clearing a world-record height of 6.21m on his second attempt at that height to give everyone one final and wonderful memory to take with them from WCH Oregon22 at Hayward Field, the home and heartbeat of track field in the United States.
“Hayward Field is really special," Duplantis said. “You’re not going to find many places better to compete, especially in the United States. It’s always an honor to be here, especially on this kind of stage, the World Championships stage, it’s pretty cool.
“I have some great memories here at Hayward Field from my first Diamond League competition until now being my first outdoor title, so it’s a special place and it’s always going to have a special place in my heart. I can’t wait to do some more good things here at Hayward.”
Neither can the thousands of people who waited until the end of the meet to see the third world record of WCH Oregon22, including the second one on the final day of competition.
WATCH: Mondo Duplantis break the men’s pole vault world record at WCH Oregon22
“Kind of saved the best for last,” Duplantis said. “I’m glad that I could perform in that kind of a situation because you have quite a bit of pressure on you when you’re the only person competing on the entire track, and everybody's focused their attention toward you. So, I’m glad that I could do my best to try and put on a good show.”
Duplantis entered the meet owning the indoor and outdoor world records in the pole vault and was the 2020 Tokyo Olympic gold medalist. But he had never won an outdoor World Athletics Championships gold medal before, having finished second to Sam Kendricks of the U.S. at the 2019 World Championships in Doha, Qatar.
On Sunday, Duplantis won when he cleared 6m on his first attempt, and three other vaulters were unable to replicate. Chris Nilsen of the U.S. took the silver medal at 5.94m, and Ernest John Obiena gave the Philippines its first-ever medal by also clearing 5.94m for the bronze medal.
“The whole day I was so caught up and focused on trying to win and trying to claim my first world outdoor title,” Duplantis said. “Really everything after that was just an afterthought. It was really just way, way in the back of my mind. Everything happened the way it did for me to win my first outdoor title and to clear 6.21, it’s really hard to comprehend. I’m really grateful.”
After securing the win, Duplantis cleared 6.06m on his first attempt to break the Championships record of 6.05m set by Australia’s Dmitri Markov at the 2001 Edmonton World Championships. A graphic on the NBC Sports television broadcast had Duplantis clearing 6.06m by 18 centimeters.
Duplantis then raised the bar to 6.21m to break his overall world record of 6.20m set in March by winning the indoor World Athletics Championships gold medal in Belgrade, Serbia, and his 6.16m outdoor world record set at the June 30 Diamond League meet in Stockholm, Sweden.
The start of the women’s 4x400m relay was delayed so Duplantis could take his first attempt at 6.21m. He bailed out on that attempt. After the relay concluded, Duplantis made another attempt at the record height and cleanly cleared the bar.
“I thought the atmosphere was fantastic," Duplantis said. “It’s always an honor when people stay in their seats to watch you compete, especially toward the end when it’s literally only me competing on the track and a fair amount stay there and watch me try to do something. I’m really thankful. It was quite a pleasure jumping out there honestly.”
Nilsen thought so, too, as he secured his first outdoor World Athletics Championships medal. He also took the silver medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and the bronze medal at the indoor World Athletics Championships in March.
“For me, I kind of won because I did well, and I got a medal in my home country," Nilsen said. “I got to experience what’s it like to have a World Championship or a major championships in my home country. It was everything I expected and more because I saw how they treated (women’s long jumper Ivan) Spanovic (now Vuleta) and all the other Serbians in Belgrade in indoor season and that was amazing.
“I love Eugene. Now that I’ve gone over to Europe and competed quite a bit over there, it kind of gives a very similar vibe. They really love track and field here and they treat it as one of their favorite sports, so if I can do this all the time, that would be great.”
Duplantis and Nilsen were tied in the competition until Duplantis cleared 6m.
“You look at Chris and EJ and how they jumped today, and I would say they actually did push me quite a bit," said Duplantis, who had one miss at 5.87m, as did Nilsen. “Sometimes those 6-meter bars, they can be just as tricky as anything higher. Chris, EJ, and everybody out there, but especially those two, did a fantastic job.”
Added Nilsen: “I knew he was going to jump higher. This is the second time in a row, major championship, indoors I jumped over 5.90 or higher and he would jump a world record. He did that indoors and now he’s done it outdoors so you do what you can, but it’s hard to beat that kind of brilliance.”
The only question, as it always is with Duplantis, is how high will that brilliance take the world record some day?
“I did not touch (the bar while clearing 6.21m), so that gives you confidence that you can go higher for sure,” Duplantis said. “I’m going to enjoy this moment, enjoy what I did.”
As will everyone who was in Hayward Field and watched Duplantis send out WCH Oregon22 in the best way possible.
By Ashley Conklin