Duplantis breaks own world record; Obiena 7th in Stockholm

June 16 ------ Swedish double Olympic pole vault champion Armand 'Mondo' Duplantis bettered his existing world record by a centimeter as he cleared 6.28 meters at the Stockholm Diamond League meet. With victory already guaranteed, Duplantis broke the world record for the 12th time as he soared over the bar at the first attempt to improve on his 6.27m effort in February. The 25-year-old ripped off his shirt in celebration and raced down the track in front of jubilant home spectators at the Olympic stadium built for the 1912 Games.

Meanwhile, Filipino pole vaulter EJ Obiena placed seventh in the meet after clearing 5.70-m in his second try at the height. Obiena then faltered three times at 5.80-m to miss out on the podium. Nonetheless, it was an improvement upon his result in the previous Diamond League stop in Oslo, where he had "no mark."

It is the first time Duplantis has broken the record in Sweden, which he said after the Oslo event earlier in the week "would be an absolute dream". Duplantis notched up his 37th victory in 41 Diamond League outings, finishing well ahead of Australia's Kurtis Marschall who managed a best of 5.90m.

The US-born Duplantis was in a class of his own in another punishing display of vaulting of the highest order. He first broke the world record in 2020 when he surpassed the 6.16m mark set by French Renaud Lavillenie. Lavillenie, 38, came fourth after making 5.80m.

Source: news.abs-cbn.com