Mondo raises the bar once more

Armand "Mondo" Duplantis traded handshakes and hugs with the pole vaulters he'd just beaten to capture his third world championships title in Tokyo.

He took a leisurely walk toward the stands to talk to his parents, his brother and his fiancee.

Then, like any great performer in a jam-packed stadium, he turned around, walked back onstage and delivered the encore the people had been waiting for.

It was another world record — the 14th time he's set it — by clearing the bar at 6.30 meters.

Duplantis cleared it on his third and final attempt. It came more than half an hour after the racing on Day 3 of the World Athletics Championships wrapped up for the evening. But nobody in the crowd of 53,000 would dare walk out on Mondo. And Mondo made a point of wringing every drop of drama out of an experience few in that crowd will soon forget.

"To be able to enjoy this world record with them and give them that is super special," Duplantis said. "Especially considering the last time I was in this stadium, we didn't have any spectators. It was spooky and eerie and super weird, and not very fun, honestly."

The night of his last performance at Japan National Stadium was during the COVID-delayed Olympics, held a year late in 2021, and without any fans. Duplantis settled for "only" the gold medal that time and missed the world record. The difference, he suspects, was the energy missing during those silent Games.

This time, there was noise and fun — the people clapping in rhythm every time Duplantis lined up — and like any great artist, Mondo knew how to play to the crowd.

After clearing 6.10, he imitated Japanese baseball Hall of Famer Ichiro Suzuki's pre-bat sleeve-tugging routine.

"My brother was in the crowd and he plays baseball, so I was trying to fire him up," Duplantis said. "And the Japanese people, if they understood it, it was just something fun."

The Louisiana-born phenom who competes for his mother's native Sweden collected $70,000 for the win — his 49th straight, dating back to September 2022 — along with the $100,000 bonus that goes to record breakers at world championships.

The money isn't the main motivation for a champion who has won every major title — worlds and Olympics — since the Tokyo Games.

"It's doing what I know I'm capable of," Duplantis said. "Motivation-wise, it's not that much of a problem. I know the level I can compete at, and I kind of demand that of myself."

It's hard to blame the crowd for expecting it, too. Duplantis started breaking records on Feb 8, 2020, and has broken them on three continents and in nine countries. This latest feat puts the height at an even 6.30.

"Six-three sounds really nice, really clean, a new barrier for our sport," he said. "It sounds better than 6.29, for sure."

But maybe not as good as 6.31.

"I believe in him," said his dad, Greg, in an interview from the stadium. "I believed he was going to make it on the last one. You've got to believe."

Duplantis has, in fact, wondered if 6.5 might be in his future.

At this rate, it would take another few years. The good news is, he's 25 and, for comparison, the great Sergey Bubka, who won six straight world titles through the 1980s and '90s, was 31 when he broke the record for the 17th and final time.

Bubka's final record was 6.14, and, after France's Renaud Lavillenie topped that one time, Duplantis took over. He has improved the record by one centimeter every time, giving him maximum opportunities to pocket bonuses like the one he'll receive from World Athletics for this one.

"What Mondo has in spades is what every pole vaulter is trying to achieve," said Sam Kendricks, the fourth-place finisher who is the last man not named Duplantis to win a world title (in 2019). "He's got a jump, he's got the jets. He's got a family that really supports him, and then he's got a field of guys that's really pushing him up there."