CHORZOW, Poland — Sweden’s Mondo Duplantis broke his own pole vault world record when he cleared 6.26 metres at the second attempt at the Silesia Diamond League meeting.
Duplantis, the Louisiana-born 24-year-old who competes for his mother´s native Sweden, added another centimeter to his world record in Chorzow AP reported.
Duplantis, who is widely known as “Mondo”, has now broken the world record 10 times in his career – each time by one centimeter.
It’s the third time this year that he has set a world record. He did so in the recent Olympic Games in Paris, clearing 6.25 meters after clinching the gold medal.
“This year I focused on the Olympics, the record just came naturally because I was in good shape,” Duplantis said according to Reuters.
“So I am not surprised with the record but I am thankful.”
Duplantis cleared 6.15 to win in Lausanne but at the Silesia Stadium in Chorzow he had the bar raised to the world-record height and the Polish crowd waited with bated breath.
His first effort was a poor one, perhaps lowering expectations, but then the Swede soared over to huge cheers from the spectators before racing to the track and falling to the ground.
“It almost feels weird and unnatural to get so much love and support from the crowds when I compete. I see that especially in Poland,” Duplantis said.
“The energy in this stadium just keeps getting better every year. My first world record also came in Poland, indoors in Torun (in 2020), so I have great memories from here.”
Olympic silver medallist Sam Kendricks of the United States cleared 6.00 before failing at 6.08 to take second, with Paris bronze-medal winner Emmanouil Karalis of Greece finishing third, also clearing six metres.
The crowd had already witnessed Norwegian Jakob Ingebrigtsen shatter the long-standing 3,000 metres world record with a time of seven minutes 17.55 seconds to beat the record set by Kenya’s Daniel Komen in 1996 when he ran 7:20.67.
Ingebrigtsen’s previous best time over the distance came in September last year when he was nearly three seconds slower than Komen’s mark.
The 23-year-old was in shock when he crossed the line and looked at his time. Ingebrigtsen received a cheque for $50,000 and posed with it in front of the clock.
Ingebrigtsen was in shock when he crossed the line and looked at his time, putting his hands on his head in disbelief.
Ingebrigtsen received a cheque for $50,000 and posed with it in front of the clock. “It feels special, amazing. I was hoping to challenge the world record here, but based on my training, I can never predict exactly what kind of time I am capable of,” he said.
“I would not have imagined I could run 7:17, though. At the beginning the pace felt really fast, but then I started to feel my way into the race and found a good rhythm. (The) 3,000 is a tough distance,” he added according to Reuters.
“After four-five laps you feel the lactic acid, but you need to get going. The conditions were difficult with the heat, but it is the same for everyone.”
Three days ago, the Norwegian had exacted a small measure of revenge over American Cole Hocker by winning the 1,500m in Lausanne in 3:27.83, two weeks after Hocker shocked the Olympic field to win gold in Paris.
He finished ahead of a trio of Ethiopians, with Paris Olympics 10,000m silver medallist Berihu Aregawi second in a personal best and the third-fastest time in history (7:21.28). Yomif Kejelcha was third.
“Now I want to challenge world records at all distances, but it is one step at a time,” Ingebrigtsen added.
Pieter Sisk of Belgium was the first pacemaker and he led through 1000m in 2:27.06 compared to Komen’s 2:25.89.
Sisk stepped aside after one mile with the second hare, Vincent Ciattei of the United States, taking Ingebrigtsen almost to 2000m, with Ingebrigtsen moving into the lead for the first time as he passed that point in 4:55.21 compared to Komen’s 4:53.18.
At this point Ingebrigtsen was slightly behind Komen’s splits but the Norwegian was just beginning to wind up his finish and, crucially, was being pressed from behind by firstly Yomif Kejelcha and then, as the runners went into the final 600m, Berihu Aregawi.
With Aregawi, the Olympic 10,000m silver medallist, still chasing hard a few metres behind, Ingebrigtsen wasn’t allowed to totally relax.
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