Armand Duplantis soared over his rivals in clinching back-to-back Olympic pole vault crowns on Monday with a new world record as Keely Hodgkinson won Britain’s first gold of the Paris Games on the track with a sensational 800m final victory. Swedish star Duplantis cemented his status as the greatest pole vaulter in history with a superb display, blowing the roof off the Stade de France with a world record-breaking final leap of 6.25 metres.
The 24-year-old Duplantis, popularly known as “Mondo”, is the first man to win consecutive Olympic pole vault golds since the USA’s Bob Richards, who achieved the feat with victories in 1952 and 1956.
In perfect, warm conditions in Paris, defending champion Duplantis never looked like being threatened by his rivals as he clinched victory.
The only suspense in a dominant performance was whether the US-born Swede could break his own world record to crown victory.
He duly delivered with his third and final attempt, beating his previous best of 6.24m to deafening roars of appreciation from the Parisian crowd.
American Sam Kendricks won silver with a best of 5.95m, Greece’s Emmanouil Karalis taking bronze (5.90).
“What can I say? I just broke a world record at the Olympics, biggest possible stage for a pole vaulter,” Duplantis said after his incredible performance.
“The biggest dream since a kid was to break the world record at the Olympics, and I’ve been able to do that in front of the most ridiculous crowd I’ve ever competed in front of.”
Duplantis’s gold was one of four titles up for grabs at the Stade de France on Monday.
On the track, British middle distance runner Hodgkinson finally ended her long wait to capture a major global championship title with gold in the 800m.
Hodgkinson, who had claimed three consecutive silver medals at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and the World Championships in 2022 and 2023, led from start-to-finish to win in 1min 56.72sec.Ethiopia’s Tsige Duguma claimed silver in 1:57.15 and Kenya’s Mary Moraa took bronze (1:57.42). “I have worked really hard for the last year and I think you can see how much it meant to me when I crossed the line. I can’t believe I have finally done it,” Hodgkinson, 22, told the BBC after her triumph.
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