Armand Duplantis breaks his own pole vault world record

Xiamen. Armand Duplantis broke his own pole vault world record by clearing 6.24 meters on Saturday during the first meeting of the Diamond League season in China. The Swede had said in a press conference before the competition that he never sets limits and that he is always capable of setting a new record.

The two-time world champion and Olympic gold medalist demonstrated this by setting a world record for the eighth time in his career, surpassing the mark of 6.23 that he himself had set in September at the Diamond League meeting in Eugene, Oregon.

“It’s my first time in China and it’s exciting to start my meeting like this,” said the 24-year-old jumper.

Known as World Duplantis began the competition with a jump of 5.62 meters, then 5.82 meters and six meters, before attempting the record that he surpassed on the first attempt.

The American Sam Kendricks was second with a jump of 5.82 meters, followed by the Chinese Huang Bokai with 5.72.

Family heritage

Duplantis is not an athlete who comes from coincidences. He has, behind him, a success story with solid pillars, established since his childhood in a healthy and competitive family environment, according to the AFP news agency.

The first glances after a success or a disappointment are usually precisely for his parents, Greg and Helena, who are also his coaches.

In fact, Greg, an American by origin, had a remarkable career in this discipline, with a mark that reached 5.80m. His father is Armand’s best technical advisor, while his mother, a Swede and former heptathlete, is mainly in charge of physical preparation.

Parents and coaches, a double facet that has nothing exceptional due to the numerous similar cases in athletics.

“When they have to dress in coaching habits they do it but when it comes to watching a movie with the family they also do it,” Brennan Robideaux, director of a documentary about Duplantis “Born I Fly,” explained to AFP.

Greg and Helena have been able to mold an energetic and hyperactive boy into an athletics superstar, who was born on November 10, 1999, in Lafayette, and who put his small toys in the video player in the living room of his house. “In his old videos, he can be seen in the background, non-stop, crying all the time. He was very emotional. He lived his life 200 percent. If he was sad, he showed it immediately with tears. If he was happy, he would jump everywhere. A real cartoon character,” says Robideaux about the images of the child Armand. “Today he is still hyperactive, but he has learned to control himself,” he notes.