Then we would talk about something completely different – Armand Duplantis controls the pole vault

Armand Duplantis wins the gold medal in the pole vault and breaks his own world record. An impressive performance.

No one comes close to Michael Phelps. The American swimmer won 23 gold medals between 2004 and 2016. The next best athletes continue with nine awards. Phelps’ medal haul is a sign of true leadership. A dominance that only a few athletes run in top class sport.

Armand Duplantis is one of those few athletes. Because the pole vaulter does not jump against himself was seen again on Monday night. While the competitors from the USA, Greece and the Philippines bested 5.95 meters, Duplantis finished the evening with a new world record of 6.25 meters.

The previous record was set by Duplantis himself, and the one before that, and the one before that as well. The 24-year-old Swede set a world record nine times. “Mondo”, as he is known, dominates this sport so much that his opponents realize that the best thing they can do is win money. If Duplantis didn’t just compete in one event, but had multiple opportunities for gold in his sport like Phelps, we would be talking about him completely differently. That is about one of the ten greatest Olympics in history.

While athletes in other sports push each other to achieve great performance, Sweden has no one who can stand up to him. That makes his performance even more special. Sam Kendricks, the silver medalist in Paris, was eliminated after 5.95 meters and then got busy rousing the crowd while Duplantis hunted for a new best.

Three years ago in Tokyo, the bar was raised to 6.19 meters after he jumped to the gold medal over 6.02 meters to break his then world record of 6.18 meters. His strongest opponent at the time had jumped “only” 5.97 meters.

Armand Duplantis is a unique protagonist. Someone who, looking back in 20 years, when it looks like he’ll be “retired” a long time ago, people might be talking about him even more than they are – now. Because people often don’t realize how good something is when it’s gone.