History made as Duplantis sets 6.18m World Record

Saturday 15th February 2020

Photos by Bobby Gavin

Sweden’s pole vault starlet Armand Duplantis smashed his own indoor World Record in Glasgow with an astonishing jump of 6.18m.

It gave him a bonus payment of $30,000 to add to his win in the men’s pole vault final on what was a stellar day of athletics at the Müller Indoor Grand Prix in the Emirates Arena.

Fresh from clearing 6.17m in Torun last weekend, man of the moment Duplantis came to Glasgow looking to better his own record and put on an incredible performance in front of the sold-out crowd.

Having sailed clear at 6.01m, the Swede turned on the style to break his own world indoor record with room to spare, sending the Glasgow crowd into raptures.

It was a first World Record witnessed by a Scottish crowd since 2006 when a Russian team achieved the women’s 4 x 400m mark.

‘It just feels so good,’ said Duplantis, after a competition which captivated throughout.

‘I felt like I was over it and once I was going over, I knew I had it. You can’t tell how far away you are from the bar, but it felt like a good jump from the get go. I tried a stiffer pole and it worked out.

‘It’s the best little split second. Everything builds up to that little split second and the freefall was magical.

‘It’s unfair to think I’ll break it every time I compete. I don’t think about it too much. You don’t need to break a record to win every comp.

‘I want to win and that’s always the goal but firstly you’ve got to win and if I have the energy left then I’ll crank it up a bit.”

American Sam Kendricks cleared a best of 5.75m as he took second position, with Belgium’s Ben Broeders setting a Belgian national record, clearing the same

height but taking third spot on countback.

Let’s just take a minute to appreciate how much @mondohoss600 cleared his new WR of 6m18 by today in Glasgow …. ??? .. he’s quick, he’s light, he’s strong and technically outstanding … ?? https://t.co/YIjqvVM8Py

— Katharine Merry (@KatharineMerry) February 15, 2020