Luis Vinker
02/15/2020 - 13:39
- Clarín.com
- sports
In just one week, the young Swedish athlete Armand Duplantis - popularly known as "Mondo" and for many the "Mozart" of his sport - has twice broken the world record for pole vaulting. First he did on Saturday 8 in Torun, Poland, the city of Copernicus, where he reached 6 meters and 17 centimeters, and this Saturday 15 at the Emirate Arenas stadium in Glasgow, Scotland, where he reached until 6.18, so the “ stratospheric barrier ”of 6.20 was there… so close.
Duplantis consumed his new feat on another date of the World Athletics circuit, in which he beat the world champion, the American Sam Kendricks, who stayed this time at 5.75 (he has 6.06 as his best personal outdoor brand).
"All this is what I dreamed since I was three years old," said this prodigy, born on November 10, 1999 in Lafayette, Louisiana (United States), but also, as a child, chose to represent Sweden, the country of his mother. She - Helena Hedlund - was an outstanding heptathleta and volleyball player. But the pole vault was already at home with the head of the family, Greg Duplantis, who was one of the best specialists in the United States a couple of decades ago and came to jump 5.80.
Armand Duplantis, with the check that accredits him as the owner of the new world record. (Photo: Ian Rutherford / PA via AP)
They say that Greg installed a slide to his children in the garden of his own house, in Lafayette, where "Mondo" started his stunts right away and came to jump almost 4 meters when he was just 7 years old. What came is already known history. In the populous and supercompetitive environment of intercollegiate and university athletics in the United States, Armand Duplantis quickly made a name, demolished records and monopolized titles since he began competing.
In 2015 he was proclaimed world champion u18 in Cali with 5.30 meters. And the following year, in the junior competition (u20) in Poland he was wearing the bronze medal with 5.45 meters. From there the ascent was unstoppable, leading to the amazement of the older athletes who were already starring in the best era of the specialty since the absence of Sergey Bubka.
In 2018, Duplantis was proclaimed world champion of the 720 with 5.82 meters in Tampere (Finland) and weeks later he won the European Championship of the elderly with 6.05 in Berlin, setting the youth world record. Last season was also over 6 meters and in the fight for gold in the World Cup in Doha, it was barely surpassed by Kendricks.
Armand Duplantis, during his participation in the Glasgow Grand Prix. (Photo: Ian Rutherford / PA Wire / DPA)
He barely had a season as a university student, representing Louisiana, since he was immediately caught by professional commitments, such as participation in the Diamond League and the first sponsorships (Red Bull, among them). He quickly earned a name among the garrochistas where, too, he is much appreciated for his personal skills. Among us, for example, that youthful promise called Pablo Zaffaroni will remember the emails of encouragement that Duplantis sent him on the eve of the Youth Olympic Games, a couple of years ago.
"Everyone expects it, everyone wants it, everyone knows that he will do it," the Frenchman Renaud Lavillenie had anticipated - record so far and owner for several years of the discipline - at the beginning of the 2020 season. Lavillenie is one of the reference points and a personal guide for Duplantis, whom he advises in his preparation and in his technique. "He is my idol," said the Swedish athlete, with whom they exchange constant messages of affection and share their workouts.
Duplantis started this season in Düsseldorf with a jump of 6.00 meters on February 4 and there was already about to keep the world record, which Lavillenie kept with 6.16 since 2014 in Donetsk, the land of Bubka. Finally he got it, four days later, and raised it again this Saturday.
The Spanish coach Jon Lizeaga believes that the Swede “is breaking all the technical models and biomechanical studies. Jump your way, instinctively. The most remarkable is its naturalness and freshness. He is a genius, who seems oblivious to any pressure. ”
Armand Duplantis, during his participation in the Glasgow Grand Prix. (Photo: Lee Smith / Reuters)
His physique does not impress, since it measures 1.81 meters and weighs 79 kilos, which seems little to carry, hold and apply his Spirit fiberglass pole, which was manufactured in Carson City, Nevada. However, its speed, its acceleration when taking the jumps box and its agility in height are impressive. And everything seems so natural.
Beyond the technical issues, the name of Armand Duplantis can return to the athletics a power of convocation that seemed lost since the retirement of Usain Bolt, even when it comes to totally different disciplines. Amazing, charisma and amazing ductility in the jump can turn the Swede into the great athlete of the coming times.
A discipline marked by the great Bubka
When talking about the pole vault, we must clearly refer to a name: Sergey Bubka. Originally from Ukraine, representative of the former Soviet Union until its extinction, he was the greatest athlete of his specialty and one of the greatest of all his sport (he is currently vice president of the International Federation). Bubka took the pole vault to a new dimension: in brands, techniques and popularity. He was the first man to pass the rod at 6 meters - a brand that was considered almost inaccessible until a short time before - and throughout his campaign he broke the world records 35 times, if he computed those he achieved outdoors and indoors .
But since the last decade, there is only one world record for the pole vault (as in other tests), whether it has been achieved outdoors or in the “indoors” test.
At the time of his retirement, the "Tsar" had left the record at 6.15 meters, which he achieved on February 21, 1993 in his hometown, Donetsk. And it took more than two decades until a meeting organized there by Bubka himself, someone could beat him. It was the French Renaud Lavillenie, who got 6.16 meters on February 15, 2014. This is the record that Duplantis has just passed, with 6.17 last week in Torun and 6.18 this Saturday in Glasgow.
Sergey Bubka achieved 35 world records.
Duplantis (6.18), Lavillenie (6.16), Bubka (6.15) and the Australian Steve Hooker (6.06) with those who reached higher in indoor tests, while Bubka got 6.15 in the open air (in 1994 in Sestriere) and follows American Sam Kendricks, current world champion, with 6.06 since last year at Des Moines. Four athletes - including Duplantis - achieved 6.05 outdoors.
Interestingly, and despite his exceptional campaign, Bubka barely reaped an Olympic title, in a memorable competition in Seoul 1988. He could not participate in the 1984 Los Angeles Games for the Soviet boycott and was eliminated in his initial jumps, to everyone's surprise , in Barcelona 1992.
His successor in the record, Lavillenie, also took over the Olympic gold in London 2012. But in Rio de Janeiro 2016 he was surpassed by the Brazilian Thiago Braz da Silva, who achieved a historic title with 6.03 meters. It was a tough and bitter competition for the Frenchman, who criticized the boos he had received from the public. Kendricks, Lavillenie and Braz are now in full preparation for the Tokyo Games, the great event of 2020. But there, no doubt, appears as the protagonist Duplantis, willing to give Sweden his first title in the history of the pole vault (a country that has a history of good garrochistas, although only three Olympic bronze medals).