Armand Duplantis doesn't care what season he is in. Let it be April, the outdoor campaign has just started and the goal of the Olympic Games is three months away. He goes about his business, to fly as high as possible and collect as many pole vault records as possible. The Swede is a unique athlete and he demonstrated it again yesterday at the opening meeting of the Diamond League in Xiamen (China). In his first attempt at 6.24 meters, Duplantis did not forgive and raised the record he himself held by one centimeter.
The flying Swede has been the great dominator of the specialty since he established his first pole vault world record in 2020. Sergei Bubka left it at 6.14 in 1994, in Sestriere (Italy), and between him and Duplantis, only the Frenchman Renaud Lavillenie had the opportunity to add his name to the list of world record holders by jumping 6.16 in 2014 in Donetsk ( Ukraine). With yesterday's jump it is the eighth time that the 24-year-old Swede has improved his record in this discipline. The last time was in September 2023, when he closed the Diamond League in Eugene (Oregon) with 6.23.
“For me to be able to jump a new world record, I need everything to be in order,” declared Duplantis, who celebrated the absence of wind and the support of the public. “Everything added up and I was able to jump very high,” he declared after the first great success of the outdoor season.
At the meet, Ethiopia's Gudaf Tsegay, world record holder in the 5,000, achieved the third best mark of all time in the 1,500 meters with 3:50.30. Only Kenyan Faith Kipyegon (3:49.11), who still holds the world record, and Ethiopian Genzebe Dibaba (3:50.07) have run faster than Tsegay. It was the highlight at the start of the Diamond League along with the triumph in the 100 meters of the world indoor champion Christian Coleman (10.13), who beat Fred Kinley (10.17). Jordan Díaz, announced in the triple jump event, could not compete due to some discomfort.
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