VIDEO. Swedish pole vaulter Mondo Duplantis further improves his world record during a meeting in China

Le Suédois continue d’impressionner. MAXPPP – Martin Rickett

Le phénomène suédois Armand Duplantis a encore amélioré d’un centimètre le record du monde du saut à la perche en le portant à 6,24 m, lors du meeting d’ouverture de la Ligue de diamant à Xiamen (Chine) ce samedi 20 avril, à trois mois des JO 2024.

This is the eighth time that Duplantis (24), reigning Olympic champion and double world champion, has advanced the world record since he seized it at the expense of the Frenchman. Renaud Lavillenie in 2020.

While the Diamond League, the most prestigious meeting circuit, had never opened so early in a season, here already "Mondo" which rises to previously unexplored heights.

Third attempt at 6.24m

In the Xiamen stadium on Saturday evening, Duplantis crossed the bar raised to 6.24 m on his first attempt, with a considerable margin of several centimeters. He was already the last one standing in the contest after the American Sam Kendricks, second, had stumbled on the six meters.

It was the third time that the Swedish pole vaulter tackled the 6.24 m, after two first unsuccessful attempts indoors during the winter, in Clermont- Ferrand and in Glasgow, where he nevertheless won world gold in early March. He previously concluded his 2023 season with a world record, at 6.23 m, in the Diamond League final in Eugene, United States, in mid-September.