Shanghai/Suzhou Diamond League 2024: Mondo Duplantis sets pole vault meeting record

By Ockert de Villiers
2 min|
Armand Duplantis
Picture by 2023 Getty Images

Reigning world and Olympic champion Armand "Mondo" Duplantis came painstakingly close to breaking his world record from a week ago as he won the men’s pole vault competition at the Shanghai/Suzhou Diamond League track and field athletics meet on Saturday (27 April).

Duplantis was head and shoulders above the rest of the field, winning back-to-back Diamond League meets on the Chinese stop of the premier track and field series in the world.

The super Swede made three failed attempts at 6.25m, which is a centimetre higher than the global mark he set in Xiamen a week ago. He came close to clearing the mark on his third attempt but instead settled for a winning height of 6.00 metres, setting a meeting record in the process.

Belgian pole vaulter Ben Broeders finished second (5.82m) tied with two-time world champion Sam Kendricks of the United States.

"I felt great today, really good. To jump six metres today and complete a very successful tour, I have a lot of good takeaways," Duplantis reflected. "I felt a little bit flat today, but still really good. I just feel that conditions have to be perfect for me to jump a world record and I wasn't quite feeling it off the runway tonight.

"Now I go back home and train for a few weeks until my next competition in Ostrava."

Diamond League Shanghai/Suzhou, People's Republic of China - pole vault - full results

  1. Mondo Duplantis (SWE) - 6.00m MR
  2. Ben Broeders (BEL) - 5.82m & Sam Kendricks (USA) - 5.82m
  3. Jacob Wooten (USA) - 5.72m
  4. Huang Bokai (CHN) - 5.72m
  5. Christopher Nilsen (USA) - 5.72m
  6. Austin Miller (USA) - 5.62m
  7. Yao Jie (CHN) - 5.42m
  8. Bo Kanda Lita Baehre (GER) - 5.42m
  9. Zhong Tao (CHN) - NM