Swedish athlete Armand Duplantis set a new world record in pole vaulting at the Mondo Classic event, held in his home country, the city of Uppsala. According to the Argentine News Agency, Duplantis raised the new mark to 6.31 meters, securing the record for the fifteenth time in his career. His ability to repeatedly surpass himself is strategic: World Athletics, the organizer of athletics competitions, awards a prize of $100,000 to each athlete who can break a world record, which benefits the Swede. With 130 victories in pole vaulting competitions, the last 50 consecutively, and at 26 years old, Armand Duplantis once again increased the historical record of the discipline. The Swede is already starting to make a name for himself as one of the best athletes in history; he was awarded the World Sportsman of the Year by the Laureus World Sports Academy and improved his mark after setting four records last year. Duplantis' streak as the world's best pole vaulter began in February 2020, when the Swede surpassed the record held by Frenchman Renaud Lavillenie and raised the bar to 6.17 meters, increasing the height by just one centimeter a week later. One of his most notable marks came in 2024, reaching a height of 6.25 meters in the final of the Paris Olympics, securing his second consecutive Olympic gold medal, having also won in Tokyo 2020. In addition, "Mondo," as he is known in the world of athletics, has accumulated three world athletics championships in 2022, 2023, and 2025, three more world indoor championships, and has won the European championship on three occasions. Beyond a constant ability to surpass himself and improve, his habit of improving the world record centimeter by centimeter is no accident: since World Athletics rewards athletes with $100,000 for each world record broken, the Swede benefits more if he raises the bar by a centimeter at a time, rather than showing all his potential abruptly.
