PARIS (AFP) – Armand Duplantis says the defence of his Olympic pole vault crown in world-record style came as no surprise as he had visualised it a “million times” when practising as a child in his own backyard.
Coached by his American father Greg, a former pole vaulter, Duplantis is a product of a track and field-crazy family which had their own vaulting apparatus in the garden.
They were all present in the stadium and it was to them that Duplantis hurtled after sailing over 6.25 metres (m) with no “pre-canned nonsense”.
“That’s just overflowed with emotions, freaking out,” said Duplantis, the new record improving his previous best by one centimetre (cm) in front of a delirious 69,000-capacity crowd at the Stade de France on Monday night.
“I’ve been fortunate enough to do it several times now, but every time the feeling is kind of the same. This was a more extreme version.
“When I’m going over the bar it’s like AI (artificial intelligence), it doesn’t feel real. That was more hysteria and freaking out.”
Having started vaulting at the age of four in his backyard on a makeshift runway and landing pad, Duplantis revealed his deja vu moment.
“I’ve visualised this moment a million times in my life. I mean, this is every time I was in my backyard,” he said of his world record vault.
“I would just imagine that the bar was at the world record mark. It was the Olympic final – that’s pretty much exactly what I visualised.”
Duplantis was happy to bask in the moment and not be drawn into looking too far into the future after his success.
It was the ninth time the Swede had broken the world record, an astonishing achievement given he is still only 24 years old. The silver medallist on the night, American Sam Kendricks, managed 5.95m, a full 30cm short of Duplantis’ mark. What next for two-time Olympic champion Duplantis, who is also twice world outdoor and indoor gold medallist, three-time European champion and a three-time Diamond League winner?
“Probably one of the moments where I cared least about the future is right now, soaking up this moment right now,” said Duplantis. “I try to enjoy as best as I can.”
