Mondo Duplantis celebrates in Silesia (© Marta Gorczynska / Diamond League AG)
Swedish pole vaulter Mondo Duplantis has been named the AIPS Best Male Athlete for the second year running after amassing an unassailable lead in the traditional end-of-year poll, organised by AIPS (International Sports Press Association) and as voted by a record 836 journalists from 121 countries.
Following another exceptional season in which he broke the world record four times, Duplantis was the runaway winner in the Best Male Athlete of the Year category ahead of Spanish tennis player Carlos Alcaraz and French footballer Ousmane Dembele.
The AIPS Best Female Athlete of the Year award went to Spanish footballer Aitana Bonmati. Five track and field athletes featured in the top 10 in the women’s voting: Beatrice Chebet (2nd), Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone (4th), Femke Bol (5th), Faith Kipyegon (8th) and Valarie Allman (10th).
Duplantis, who was recently named the World Athletics Athlete of the Year award for the third time, became the first male pole vaulter in modern history to go undefeated both indoors and outdoors for two successive years.
He set four world records this year: 6.27m in Clermont-Ferrand, 6.28m in Stockholm, 6.29m in Budapest and 6.30m to clinch his third consecutive world title in Tokyo. Duplantis has now broken the men's pole vault world record 14 times since February 2020.
Duplantis, who earlier this month won the BBC ‘World Sport Star’ award for the second year in a row, also earned his third successive world indoor pole vault title in Nanjing and fifth successive Diamond League title in Zurich.
