Mondo Duplantis wins season opener at Mondo Classic, misses indoor world record attempts
The Olympic and world champ pole vaulter captured the event named for himself in Uppsala, Sweden. He fell short on attempts to break his indoor world record. See the full results.
Athletics
The aptly-named Mondo Classic has been captured by... you guessed it, Armand "Mondo" Duplantis.
The reigning Olympic and world champion in pole vault soared to a season-opening victory in front of a rare home crowd in Uppsala, Sweden on Thursday (2 February) evening, jumping over a 6.10m bar.
Duplantis attempted an indoor world record of 6.22m, but failed in trying to clear that height in three tries. The 23-year-old Swede set that record last season at the World Indoor Championships in Belgrade, Serbia, with a 6.20m.
"I'm happy with the result," he told Swedish broadcaster SVT after the event. "I'm happy to get over 6.10m. I got the juices flowing on that last attempt. I was happy to do this in Uppsala because I know that a lot of people came out to watch me."
On raising the bar - literally - from 6.10 to 6.22m to try for the indoor record, he said: "Nothing in between would mean that much to me right now. That's a bit of a jump, yes. I tried to do something special. It didn't work out today, but I'm one click away from it working. I'm going into the next competition confident."
The 6.10m jump marks the best season-opening jump for any pole vaulter - ever.
American KC Lightfoot took three attempts to clear both 5.52m and 5.82, but made it into the final three along with Duplantis and world bronze medallist Ernest John Obiena, who set a national record for the Phillipines by clearing 5.91m.
They finished second and third, respectively.
Obiena was 11th at Tokyo 2020 in 2021, while Lightfoot placed fourth at the Olympic Summer Games where Duplantis captured gold.
The Swedish pole vaulter won Tokyo with a 6.02 and holds the world record with his victory at the World Championships last year in Eugene, Oregon, at 6.21.
The event featured 10 of the best pole vaulters in the world, including Rio 2016 champion Thiago Braz of Brazil, who also won bronze in Tokyo. American Sam Kendricks was also in the field.
Mondo Classic 2023 - pole vault - full results
_The Mondo Classic in Uppsala, Sweden, featured some of the best pole vaulters in the world. See the full results here. _
1. Mondo Duplantis - 6.10m
2. KC Lightfoot - 5.91m
3. Ernest John Obiena - 5.91m
4. Kurtis Marschall - 5.82m
5. Pal Haugen Lillefosse - 5.82m
6. TIE: Ben Broeders, Thiabaut Collet, Sam Kendricks - 5.67m