Agency :
Reigning Olympic and world champion Armand Duplantis set a new world record of 6.25m as he retained his men’s pole vault title at Paris 2024.
Duplantis headed into the event as perhaps the heaviest favorite of any competitor in any discipline at Paris 2024, and opted to skip the opening height of 5.50m.
The Swede instead opened his campaign at 5.70m, sailing over with consummate ease in a portent of things to come.
While the other competitors had all been knocked out by the 6.00m mark, Duplantis had cleared every bar with no fouls up to that point, and then cleared his next attempt of 6.10m to set a new Olympic record.
The Swede then set the bar at 6.25m, aiming to surpass his own world record of 6.24m, set earlier this year at the Diamond League meet in China’s Xiamen.
Though he failed on his first two attempts, the Swede would not be denied on his final run, setting a new world-leading mark to send the capacity crowd at the Stade de France into raptures.
Sam Kendricks of the United States collected the silver medal in 5.95m, with Greece’s Emmanouil Karalis taking bronze in 5.90m.