Swedish vaulter's new 6.20m mark 'a bonus'

BELGRADE • Sweden's Armand Duplantis said he was "playing with free chips" when he held his nerve to better his world pole vault record at the World Indoor Championships in Belgrade on Sunday.

He went clear at 6.20 metres on the third time of asking in raucous conditions at the Stark Arena to improve by 1cm his previous best set two weeks ago in the same venue.

The Swede joined the competition with the bar at 5.60m, going on to pass four times as rivals fell by the wayside. Duplantis saw American Chris Nilsen fail at 5.95m and Brazil's Rio Olympic champion Thiago Braz at 6.05m.

With gold secured, the bar was immediately raised to 6.20m, but Duplantis failed in his first two attempts.

"It's one of these situations that you don't know what's happening until the moment's passed," said the 22-year-old Olympic champion, who had warned when he cleared 6.19m in an almost empty arena on March 7 that he had more in the tank.

"I was so focused on getting the gold medal. And then when it's time to jump at 6.20m, it's a bonus. I'm playing with free chips at that point."

Duplantis said he wanted to continue to "push barriers".

It was his first record in the presence of his father and coach Greg, saying it was "extra special he was there to witness it".

"It's very special to compete with him, he's always pushing high bars and it's motivating," said silver medallist Braz of Duplantis.

Nilsen added: "If you can see that some human being can do it like Mondo, it just gives you the confidence that maybe I can do it too."

Duplantis has held the world record since February 2020.

At times he seems able to raise the record 1cm at a time, like Ukrainian great Sergey Bubka, who, in the days when outdoors and indoors were considered separate, broke the outdoor world record 17 times and set indoor bests 18 times between 1984 and 1994.

Duplantis, nicknamed "Mondo", was born and raised in Lafayette, Louisiana, but competes for Sweden through his mother, who trains him with his father.

The world indoor title was one of the two missing from his record, along with that of the world outdoors. "I'm still missing one title, that world outdoor title, and that's the focus now," Duplantis said in reference to the July World Championships in Eugene, Oregon.

Venezuela's Yulimar Rojas also bettered her own women's triple jump indoor world record by a massive 31cm with a leap of 15.74m to win gold on Sunday.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS