STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AFP) — Pole vault star Armand “Mondo” Duplantis, watched by his mother, attempted a world record, and climate protesters added “an 11th hurdle” in the rain-hit Diamond League event in Stockholm on Sunday.
The pole vault was delayed for two hours by the wet weather as the sound system in Stockholm’s venerable Olympic Stadium played “Let the Sunshine In.”
When it started, Duplantis, the reigning Olympic and world champion, was perfect with his first four jumps.
His last clearance was at 6.05 meters, enough to win the competition comfortably by 23 centimeters over EJ Obiena of the Philippines.
It was fourth time in five summer competitions “Mondo” has cleared six meters.
The American-born Duplantis, who competes for Sweden through his mother Helena, who was in the Stockholm crowd, then took off his black leg warmers and raised the bar to 6.23 meters, a centimeter higher than the world record he set indoors in France in February.
He pulled out before jumping on his first two attempts and then brought down the bar on his third and final try.
“This is the most important meet, outside of the World Championships, for me in the year. I was really fired up and felt I could conquer the world,” Duplantis said.
“Maybe the conditions and tiredness caught up with me in the end there.”
Seven weeks ahead of the 2023 World Championships in Budapest, Duplantis again dominates the world rankings.
His best mark is 6.12 meters set in Ostrava, in the Czech Republic on 27 June. Sunday’s jump was the fourth best in the world this season.
Only American KC Lightfoot, with a clearance of 6.07 meters for third best, intrudes in the top five.
Another Scandinavian world-record holder, Karsten Warholm, also won but the field in the men’s 400-meter hurdle had to contend with an unexpected obstacle.
Runners in the middle lanes had to dodge three climate protestors who had come onto the track and unfurled a banner in front of the finish line.
Warholm, on the outside, had an unimpeded run to the line, but two runners collided with the banner and others had to dodge the protesters.
“There was an 11th hurdle today,” said France’s Wilfried Happio, who was fifth.
