Armand Duplantis Wins
Pole Vault Competition for the Ages
copyright 2018, Mark Cullen/trackerati.com, all rights reserved
In a virtuosic display of pole vaulting tonight in Berlin,
18-year-old Mondo Duplantis (SWE) set his personal best three times and topped the
deepest field in the history of the European Championships.
His 6.05 (19-10¼) winner ties him for #2 all-time outdoors in history.
In a game of “Can You Top This?” the answer was always an
emphatic "YES."
“I did feel like I could have made higher,” said the freshly
minted gold medalist. “I just hope I wake up tomorrow and it’s still real.”
The statistics of this competition are staggering.
With five jumpers left in the competition, three had cleared
5.90 (19-4¼) and two had passed to 5.95 (19-6¼), the next higher height.
That’s 5 jumping at 5.95 (19-6¼); 17 jumps were taken at
5.95 (19-6¼) or above.
Duplantis and Renaud Lavillenie (FRA) cleared 5.95 (19-6¼),
while Russia’s Timur Morgunov then shocked the field with his 6.00m (19-8¼) personal
best, the last height he would clear. He won a totally unexpected silver.
Lavillenie missed his first attempt at 6.00 (19-8¼) and passed
to 6.05 (19-10¼), where he missed twice and was done for the night, the bronze
medal winner.
Meanwhile, Duplantis etched himself into the track and field
history books as well as the memories of the tens of thousands of rapt
spectators with his magical 6.05 (19-10¼) winner.
The compelling ease of it
was remarkable as he floated over the bar.
Morgunov’s 6.00 (19-8¼) for second and Lavillenie’s 5.95 (19-6¼) for 3rd equal the highest marks ever for those places.
Poland’s Piotr Lisek was hot early and finished 4th
at 5.90. Imagine jumping 19-4¼ and not
medaling.
“It was great,” Mondo said of the enthusiastic crowd. “They were
really into the competition and it was probably the best pole vault competition
I’ve ever been a part of.
“It was a great place to jump and the atmosphere…” he said
as his voice trailed off and he shook his head in wonder, still trying to
absorb the magnitude of what he had just achieved. “I just hope we can have
another championship here because I like to jump high like that.”
Friend and rival – and mentor – indoor world record holder, Renaud
Lavillenie, walked on the runway with Duplantis when Duplantis called it a night.
“He did say on the straightaway,” Duplantis said, ‘Enjoy
this moment because not many moments will be like this sweet dream ever. Enjoy
this moment because you don’t get these every day.’”
One of those he is now tied with at #2 outdoors is Lavillenie.
Duplantis is becoming comfortable with the fame bestowed on him by his
rapid international success.
“I’m not trying to fill his shoes or anything,” he said of
Lavillenie. “If people (want to) treat me like Renaud then I guess they can. If
people are interested in pole vault and I’m one of the biggest names in track
and field, that’s great! That’s great publicity for pole vault.”
A Swedish journalist said, “You look up to Renaud and now
there are a lot of little kids looking up to Mondo.”
Mondo replied, “I hope to inspire people. I love pole
vaulting so much. It’s such a unique event – such an awesome event and I love
winning.”
He hopes to build his event through his success. He hopes it
brings the pole vault some publicity, “and if people are watching, they can see
how remarkable it is and how different it is from everything else. I want
everybody to jump.”
After winning the competition at 6.05 (19-10¼), Duplantis elected
not to pursue even high heights. It was simple, he said.
“I was tired. I was
really tired and I had already PRed 3 times.”
He described celebrating with his mother in the stands.
“I don’t think it was much words – I think it was just our
faces so close to each other that we could feel each other’s tears down each
other’s faces… I don’t think we could come up with words at that time.”
Duplantis revealed a strong sense of the occasion when he
said, “It’s going to be one of my greatest track and field moments ever no
matter what happens. Olympic gold, world record – this is one of the ones that
will have stood out.”
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The Magic Moment
6.05/19'10.25"
Note how far Duplantis is over the bar.
Photo copyright Jeff Cohen
Jeff@trackandfieldimage.com
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Thanks to invaluable online statistical resources on
Twitter:
K Ken Nakamura @KKenNakamura
John Mulkeen @Statman_John
