Duplantis soars to 11th pole vault world record

Duplantis cleared 6.27m at the All Star Perche meet in Clermont-Ferrand, France, improving his mark by a centimetre. The double Olympic and world champion has reigned supreme since breaking the world record for the first time in February 2020, clearing 6.17m in a meet in Poland.

He bettered the world mark twice that year, thrice in 2022, twice in 2023 and thrice last year. Duplantis is creeping up on the record held by former pole vault great Sergey Bubka, who broke the world record 17 times in a 10-year span from 1984. Bubka, the first man to clear 6 metres, took it to 6.14m, at Sestriere, Italy in 1994.

Duplantis, who set the previous record of 6.26m in Silesia, Poland last August, cleared 6.27m in his first attempt. Setting the tone this early in the year means the Swede is sure to take it to further heights in the build-up to the World Championships in Tokyo in September.