Mondo Duplantis, Elaine Thompson-Herah , Keely Hodgkinson and Jake Wightman in Birmingham (© Getty Images for British Athletics)
Just two days after Jakob Ingebrigtsen’s world record run in Lievin, further records could be on the cards as the World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold series moves on to Birmingham, with Mondo Duplantis and Elaine Thompson-Herah among the stars ready to put on a show on Saturday (19).
Duplantis improved his world pole vault record to 6.18m the last time he competed at the Müller Indoor Grand Prix, when it was held in Glasgow in 2020, and he has been raising the bar ever since. The Swedish Olympic champion attempted a world record height of 6.19m at 12 of his competitions in 2021 and picked up from where he left off in 2022 – winning in Karlsruhe, Berlin and Uppsala during the past three weeks and again trying 6.19m on each occasion.
The world leader with 6.04m intends to give it another go in Birmingham, too.
“Tomorrow, I’m going to be a little more aggressive with the heights that I choose,” said Duplantis. “I think at the last few meets I’ve had a few too many jumps before attempting the world record and that makes it a little tougher. I get a little more tired and I want to be in perfect shape when it comes to that 6.19m.
“Sometimes you want to save your legs and your body as much as you can for those higher heights, and you want to feel perfect when the bar is at a world record height, but at the same time sometimes you need that rhythm and that confidence to get on the right pole, the right grip, to make sure that everything is right for those really high bars. At the end of the day, it’s really tough when you get to those higher bars. Everything has to be perfect.”
Including the environment. Duplantis missed the crowds when the pandemic prevented fans from being there in person to spectate and now he’s relishing the opportunity to make the most of the support.
“I would love the energy to be as hyped as it can be,” added Duplantis, who is targeting the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Belgrade as the pinnacle of his season. “It’s great having these competitions now where we are able to have spectators. Tomorrow I hope it’s loud, I hope the music is pumping as loud as they can get those speakers to go, and that it results in some better heights.”
Mondo Duplantis competes in Glasgow (© Getty Images)
Another athlete hoping to give the crowd something to celebrate is Jamaica’s five-time Olympic gold medallist Thompson-Herah. Having started her year with a 60m race outdoors – running 7.19 into a -1.9m/sec headwind in Kingston – the 29-year-old returns to the scene of her 6.98 indoor PB set in 2017.
“I remember running 6.98 and not knowing that I could break the seven-second barrier,” said Thompson-Herah, who now sits second on the world all-time lists for 100m and 200m thanks to the respective PBs of 10.54 and 21.53 she ran last year. “My start is not the best, but I’m working on that. I was really excited to know that I ran below seven seconds.”
And now, even quicker? The women’s world 60m record stands at 6.92, set by Irina Privalova in 1993.
“I am taking it month by month to see where I am at. This is a training process for me to see where I am at right now,” she said.
“I really want to go below my PB, of course, and if I could get the world record, no problem, but I am not putting myself under pressure. I am just using these races to see where I am at. I am not sure if I will take on the World Indoor Championships, I am just really excited to be back on the track.”
Elaine Thompson-Herah races in Birmingham (© Getty Images)
Britain’s Keely Hodgkinson is also looking forward to her return to the track, having last competed at the Wanda Diamond League final in Zurich where she claimed the 800m Diamond Trophy to cap a season that saw her become an Olympic silver medallist.
Among those lining up alongside her in Birmingham will be Jamaica’s Natoya Goule, who will be fresh from her world-leading national indoor record of 1:58.46 in Lievin on Thursday.
“I’m excited to get out there,” said Hodgkinson. “It’s almost like a bit of normality going back into racing. Hopefully, the race will be fast and I can come away with the win.”
World record fast? Perhaps not yet, but it could be written in the stars.
“The other day I was looking up the world indoor 800m record, just because I was interested, and it was set on the exact day I was born,” Hodgkinson explained, referring to Jolanda Ceplak’s 1:55.82 run in Vienna on 3 March 2002.
“Let’s make that very clear, I will not be attempting the world record (tomorrow)!” added the 19-year-old, whose own PB of 1:59.03 was also run at the Ferry-Dusika-Halle. “One day, maybe.”
Her fellow Briton Jake Wightman does have a record in his sights, however, and he goes into Saturday’s men’s 1500m with Peter Elliott's 3:34.20 British record from 1990 as his aim.
“The whole point of this season was to do the 3000m mainly, but I feel like I am in good enough 1500m shape to PB indoors, which means that hopefully there’s a chance for a British record,” said the European and Commonwealth medallist, who ran his PB of 3:34.48 last year. “The quality of the race is so good that if I’m going in to try and win it and that happens, the time should come as a result.”
And should any extra motivation be needed, he’ll have Ingebrigtsen’s 3:30.60 run in Lievin fresh in the memory.
“I’m sure there will be a lot of people in that race on Saturday that will have watched it and will be inspired to go out and try and run quick,” he added. “Hopefully, I can be a part of that, and we will see some good times as a result.”
Jess Whittington for World Athletics
