Duplantis soars to victory in Geneva

LAUSANNE (Switzerland) • Olympic champion and world-record holder Armand Duplantis of Sweden won the Lausanne Diamond League pole-vault competition staged on the banks of Lake Geneva on Thursday.

The 22-year-old star again put his rivals in the shade with a winning 6.10m vault on his third attempt.

Tokyo Games silver medallist Chris Nilsen of the United States was second with 5.80m in the event held a day before the main Diamond League programme in the Swiss city.

Ernest John Obiena of the Philippines, the two-time reigning SEA Games champion and Asian record holder, was third, also on 5.80m, to add to his bronze earned at last month's World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon.

It was Duplantis' 17th pole vault competition of the year and he remains undefeated this year.

The Swede improved his world record to 6.21m last month on his way to becoming world champion in Eugene. He then won the European Athletics Championships title in Munich last week.

After clearing 6.10m on Thursday, he did not attempt to improve on his world record.

Watching on from the sidelines was Ukrainian pole-vault legend Sergey Bubka, the only other man to have crossed the 6.10m mark outdoors with a career-best of 6.14m in 1994.

After Lausanne, the Diamond League heads to Brussels for the season's penultimate meet next Friday before the athletics season concludes with a two-day meet from Sept 7-8 in Zurich.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE