Duplantis confident of more as he eyes world indoor title defence

Armand “Mondo” Duplantis believes he has “more in the tank” as he prepares to defend his world indoor pole vault title in Nanjing, with the possibility of clearing six metres for the 100th time firmly within reach.

To highlight the significance of that milestone, Ukrainian legend Sergey Bubka—former world record holder—achieved the feat just 45 times in his career.

“I feel like it’s quite possible because of the way that everybody is jumping,” Duplantis said on Thursday. “I’ll probably have to do it just in order to win, so I’ll probably be pushing that way. That would be quite cool actually: get the gold with 100 clearances over six metres. That would be quite neat.”

The Swedish-American has dominated pole vaulting in recent years, setting an 11th world record earlier this month by clearing 6.27m in Clermont. However, he insists the competition is improving.

“Just for example, Emmanouil Karalis of Greece has cleared 6m three times just in this season. Everybody’s jumping at a way higher level than they were previously,” he said. “I try to keep improving as much as they’re improving, so that they don’t close the gaps.”

Despite already achieving Olympic and world championship glory, Duplantis remains motivated at 25. “I feel like there’s so much left to achieve, even though the past few years have been really a dream,” he said.

With the world indoor title at stake, Duplantis is ready to push himself even further. “I know that there’s more in the tank and I like the way that everything looks.”

(Source: AFP)