Duplantis breaks pole vault world record in Xiamen

Swedish star Mondo Duplantis got the 2024 Wanda Diamond League off to a spectacular start in Xiamen, China, on Saturday (20) by soaring to a world record in the men’s pole vault of 6.24m.

In what was his first competition of the outdoor season, the 24-year-old Swede soared over the highest clearance in history to add 1cm to the record he’d set in Eugene last year. This was Duplantis’s first ever visit to China and he made it a memorable one, for himself and the fans, who rose to their feet in celebration as he rewrote the men’s world record for the eighth time.

But had it been on his mind coming into the event?

“For me to jump a world record I need everything to be in the right place; I’d never jumped here and I didn’t know what kind of track it was, but obviously it was okay,” he smiled. “Still winds, great energy from the crowd: pretty much everything added up to what I needed to jump high today.”

Duplantis had the competition won with a six-metre clearance but the Olympic and world champion soon moved the bar up to a world record 6.24m. “I didn’t know how exactly my body would react but it definitely felt like it was within reach after that six-metre bar,” he said.

Duplantis said his indoor season – which included his second world indoor title – was “a little sloppier” than he’d have liked. “So I brought a bit of fire to this outdoor season. I was really excited to get it started.”

And having opened his season with a world record, might he go far higher this summer?

“It’s definitely possible, conditions-willing,” he said. “I’m going to try maximise the most of every day. There’s definitely more to give. There’s still some higher heights in me, for sure, as long as everything is in the right place.”