Mondo Duplantis interview: Pole vault world record holder on how his upbringing shaped him, his rise to fame and his Olympic ambitions
Some children grow up kicking a ball around. Some take to throwing and catching. For as long as he can remember, Armand “Mondo” Duplantis has had a pole in his hand and a crash mat set up on which to throw himself.
Born into an athletic family, with a former pole vaulter for a father, a volleyball-playing heptathlete for a mother and two sport-mad older brothers, Duplantis had the ideal environment in which to thrive.
He has spent 17 years learning the art of pole vaulting and now, at the age of just 20, the American-born Swedish athlete is not only the best pole vaulter in the world but the new poster boy for track and field.
Duplantis burst onto the scene last month, twice breaking the world record set by France’s Renaud Lavillenie — first at a World Athletics Indoor Tour meeting in Poland and then, a week later, at an Indoor Grand Prix in Glasgow.
Not surprising
For now that bar is set at 6.18m. But having hit the front in his first year as a professional, Duplantis is hoping to keep improving, keep pushing his limits and to keep on extending what is possible in the sport.
“Growing up I had everything in place to be successful – I can’t really explain how fortunate I am with the positions that I’ve been put in in my life,” he tells CityAM
“I was set up very well from a very young age for success. I had a good support group around me. I had all the equipment I needed accessible to me.
“It’s been crazy how everything has worked out. But I can’t say it’s so so so surprising, where I came from, because I came from a really good situation.”
Turning heads
Perfect upbringing or not, Duplantis’ rise has still been hugely impressive. While he has been a serial winner at every age group, setting records along the way, the speed with which he has taken the world of athletics by storm has turned heads.
Coached by his dad, Greg, who himself reached a mark of 5.80m during his athletic career, Duplantis admits to a degree of surprise at how quickly it has fallen into place for him, but stresses that despite his youth his achievements have still been a long time coming.
“The world record has become more and more achievable for me,” he explains. “I always thought I had a chance. I just kept growing and growing towards it.”
Although he has already been hailed as a saviour for the less conventional discipline, with former Olympic pole vault champion and serial record breaker Sergey Bubka saying he “makes athletics attractive”, Duplantis is not feeling any pressure.
“I don’t think about that much,” he says of the responsibility to fly the flag for pole vault. “It is a mainstream sport to me.”
Going for gold
With the world record to his name, Duplantis, who was born in Louisiana but has chosen to represent the country of his mother’s birth, is now ready to embark further on “the most important year of my athletic career”.
The main goal in 2020 is to claim the gold medal for Sweden at the Tokyo Olympic Games, but before then the brightest young star of athletics will try to wow the London Stadium crowd at the Muller Anniversary Games in July.
“I know now I’m capable of breaking world records and hopefully I can do it more and more often,” Duplantis says.
“Trying to jump at a level above the world record, you need really good facilities and you need a really good crowd and I think that the Anniversary Games brings both of those to the table, so I’ll do the best I can do to jump another world record.”
To buy tickets for the Muller Anniversary Games on Saturday 4 and Sunday 5 July 2020 and for more information go to www.britishathletics.org.uk