American pole vaulter Armand “Mondo” Duplantis broke a world record for the ninth time at the Paris Olympics on Monday to bring home a gold medal for Sweden.
The 24-year-old Louisiana-born athlete cleared 6.25 meters on Monday, breaking the mark of 6.24 meters he set in April at the Xiamen Diamond League in China, soaring higher than a giraffe in each record-breaking jump. American Sam Kendricks took silver with a jump of 5.95 meters and Greece’s Emmanouil Karalis took bronze with a jump of 5.90 meters.
Duplantis has been breaking world records since February 2020. In addition to Olympic gold in Paris and Tokyo, he has won four world championships, two indoor and two outdoor. The Olympics have compared Duplantis’ dominance in the pole vault world to that of swimming Katie Ledeckyskills in the 1,500-meter freestyle and Simone Biles“gymnastics skills.
Patrick Smith / Getty Images
Both of Duplantis’ parents are athletes, and his father competed in the pole vault in the United States. According to the Olympics, the elder Duplantis’s personal best pole vault was 5.80 meters in 1993.
Although Duplantis was born in the United States and educated in Louisiana, he represents Sweden, his mother’s native country. He spent summers in Sweden as a child, according to the Olympics.
Duplantis attended Louisiana State University, the same school as the runner Sha’Carri Richardsonaccording to the Olympics. The pole vaulter moved to Sweden after college. He was named Swedish Newcomer of the Year in 2018 and Swedish Male Athlete of the Year in 2019, 2021 and 2022.
He is not the only athlete to compete for a country other than the one in which he was born. Kaylia Nemour, a gymnast who won gold for Algeria in the uneven bars final, was born in France. Her father is Algerian.
