The LSU connection: Why Sha’Carri Richardson and Mondo Duplantis are each other’s biggest fans 

When Sweden’s Armand ‘Mondo’ Duplantis won yet another world indoor title in the pole vault at the World Indoor Athletics Championships in Glasgow earlier this month, one of his loudest supporters was another world champion.

After the Swede cleared 6.05m for yet another six-plus meet, Sha’Carri Richardson posted on Instagram: "It's not a plane, ITS MONDOOO".

This wasn't even the first time they had cheered for each other.

If you looked close enough at last August’s World Athletics Championships in Budapest you might have seen, in between her own breakout performances in becoming the first female American world 100m champion since 2017, Richardson cheering on Duplantis as he worked towards claiming his second outdoor world title in the pole vault.

For those not in the know, it may seem strange to witness one of the biggest stars in the US team cheering so vocally for an athlete from a rival nation.

However, Richardson and Duplantis are more than just world champions competing on the same stage, they are also former teammates and friends.

Sha'Carri Richardson on Mondo Duplantis: "He's one of my favourite people in life"

“Oh yes, I saw my Mondo!” exclaimed Richardson in an interview with NBC by the side of the track in Budapest at last year's 2023 World Athletics Championships. “He’s one of my favourite people in life.”

While at first glance the friendship between an American sprinter and a Swedish pole vaulter may seem unusual, Richardson and Duplantis share a history that has in many ways made them into the athletes they are today.

Both began studying at the Louisiana State University in 2018 where they joined as Freshmen and left as NCAA champions, with Richardson winning ‘The Bowerman’ trophy in 2019 and Duplantis a finalist for the same prestigious award the same year.

It was a formative time in both their lives that Duplantis now looks back on fondly.

“I think it’s a little bit of a surreal situation because time is weird,” he reminisced about their time at college together.

“Everything just goes so fast because it feels like just yesterday we were teenagers, we were just kids and we were Freshmen in college and we were just doing Freshman in college things, just cutting up and being stupid.”

Even then Duplantis and Richardson shared the same goals in life, though you could perhaps not have predicted a future where they would both stand on the top of a podium at the same World Championships.

“We also both had huge dreams and we knew that we could be in the situation that we are today but everything happened in the way that it has and we actually are doing what we always [hoped], manifesting what we could do,” Duplantis continued.

“It’s a lot different because sports is tough and not everything works out the way you think it’s going to work out, so for us to be here and both win the world championships in the same year, feeling like it was just yesterday we were both in college together, it’s pretty nice.”

Could Mondo race Richardson in a 100m showdown?

A year ago, Olympic great Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce made headlines with her tongue-in-cheek challenge to Duplantis that they should race the 100m against each other.

“I would beat you,” was Duplantis’ comical retort, to which the Jamaican responded: “OK, survey says that’s a lie.’”

And although that showdown never materialised, Duplantis seemed even keener to race when it was put to him that he could go head-to-head with his friend Richardson.

“That is a good one but we don’t have much beef,” he said. “We’re actually quite good friends. That could actually be really cool.”

While Richardson would be the odds-on winner (and vice-versa if the competition involved pole vaulting), it’s hard to imagine a face-off between the two being anything but a joyful occasion as both seem to have nothing but the utmost respect for each other.

As Richardson noted when asked about her support for Mondo at the recent Worlds: “He’s on a whole different level, OK.”

Sha’Carri Richardson and Mondo Duplantis: the leading lights in a golden LSU generation

What’s even more surprising about the recent World Championships is that Richardson and Duplantis weren’t even the only recent LSU alumni to compete - or medal - in Budapest at last year's World Championships.

The USA’s JuVaughn Harrison took silver in the high jump at the Worlds and at 24 is only a year older than Duplantis and Richardson.

On top of that, a number of other athletes from LSU turned out for both Team USA and other nations, among them Vernon Norwood (USA), Favour Ofili (Nigeria) and Natoya Goule (Jamaica).

But there’s little doubting the most famous of these are now Richardson and Duplantis - both of whom made good on their immense promise as college athletes to reach the pinnacle of their sport.

Richardson served a one-month suspension in 2021 after testing positive for cannabis during the U.S. trials. Cannabis is a banned substance per World Anti-Doping Agency rules.

Note: This story was originally published in September 2023.