![Armand Duplantis of Sweden competes in the men's pole vault during the 2023 Prefontaine Classic and Wanda Diamond League Finals at Hayward Field on September 17, 2023 in Eugene, Oregon.](https://sports.inquirer.net/files/2023/09/063_1672927509-scaled.jpg)
Armand Duplantis of Sweden competes in the men’s pole vault during the 2023 Prefontaine Classic and Wanda Diamond League Finals at Hayward Field on September 17, 2023 in Eugene, Oregon. Duplantis went on to set a new world record during the event. Ali Gradischer/Getty Images/AFP (Photo by Ali Gradischer / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)
Swede Armand “Mondo” Duplantis made the extraordinary look almost routine again when he broke his own pole vault world record and jumped 6.23 meters during the Eugene Diamond League final on Sunday.
The performance shaved an inch off his previous record of 6.22 set in France in February.
It was the seventh world record for the back-to-back world champion, who flew over the rest of the field at the season-ending event as EJ Obiena of the Philippines finished second with 5.82 and American Sam Kendricks was third with 5.72.
The fans at Hayward Field held their breath as Olympic champion Duplantis pushed the crossbar as he reached the record high before erupting in cheers.
With his family on hand to witness the occasion, Duplantis jumped up and down with joy before sprinting towards his team, who hoisted him into the air.
“I don’t remember the jump. I’m dead serious… I just knew it was going to be very close,” he said in televised remarks.
“I knew when I went over the bar I just shouldn’t panic because I knew I was going to have to squirm a little bit. I don’t know, I just looked up and the bar was still there. I don’t know, it’s hard to explain.”
The record-breaking performance was exactly how he wanted to end his extraordinary season after trying and failing to better his own record at the world championships in Budapest.
He is expected to be one of the biggest athletics attractions at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
“It was the most family I’ve had at a game since high school. So that’s an incredible feeling, especially because those are the people I want to make the most proud,” said Duplantis.
“It could be a worse way to end (the year). I have a good feeling about it, nice to go out with a bang.”
It was the second world record witnessed by the crowd in Eugene on Sunday, after Ethiopia’s Gudaf Tsegay broke the world record in the women’s 5,000 meters with a run of 14 minutes and 00.21 seconds.
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