Mondo Duplantis sets new world record as Swede retains pole vault title in Tokyo
by AFP · The42SWEDEN’S ARMAND ‘MONDO’ Duplantis set a new world record of 6.30 metres as he successfully defended his world pole vault title in Tokyo on Monday.
Duplantis had already wrapped up the competition with a winning vault of 6.15m before raising the bar another 15cm.
He went clear on his third attempt in what was his 14th world record in a discipline in which he is totally dominant.
The 25-year-old raced off the mat and raced around the track before running into the stands for a passionate kiss with his partner and a quick embrace of his parents, much to the delight of a packed National Stadium.
His rivals swarmed around him as he made his way back, enveloped in a Swedish flag.
Greece’s Emmanouil Karalis took silver with a best of 6.00m and Australian Kurtis Marschall claimed bronze with a personal best of 5.95m, taking the medal on countback from American Sam Kendricks.
Meanwhile, New Zealand’s Geordie Beamish produced a last-gasp spurt to edge defending two-time champion Soufiane El Bakkali for gold in a thrilling men’s 3,000m steeplechase.
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Beamish left it late, sprinting through the crowded field to come alongside the Moroccan — who also won the last two Olympic golds — and pinch a dramatic victory at the line for New Zealand’s first track gold at a world championships.
The New Zealander, who was spiked in the heats and fell to the track before recovering, clocked a winning time of 8min 33.88sec to halt El Bakkali’s dominant streak on the global stage.
El Bakkali was seven-hundredths of a second adrift in second, while Kenyan teenager Edmund Serem rounded out the podium (8:34.56).
The reactions of Beamish, the 2024 world indoor 1,500m champion, and El Bakkali could not have been further apart.
The 28-year-old Kiwi was left gasping in disbelief as he looked at the results on the giant screens while the Moroccan burst into inconsolable tears and collapsed to the floor.
“This was a turn-up, wasn’t it?!” Beamish said. “That was pretty unreal. I am still taking it all in. I just can’t believe how hot the crowd was.
“Everything was hard but it all ended up well for me. I’m pretty stoked. I did a lot in the last 200 metres. You just need to visualise winning before it happens, and it will happen.”
Beamish added: “I just gave myself a shot in the last 200 metres. I knew I had it in me tonight. I only knew I’d win one metre before the finish and that was enough.
“It’s a first track gold for New Zealand at a world championships, which is pretty cool.”
El Bakkali said defeat was “very difficult to accept”.
“But I have to because this is high-performance sport,” he said. “I congratulated the athlete from New Zealand. I had good tactics but I clipped the last barrier and lost balance.
“I will work hard to regain the world title. Today was not the result I wanted, but sport wins tonight.”
Switzerland’s Ditaji Kambundji claimed a shock gold in the women’s 100m hurdles.
Kambundji clocked a national record of 12.24sec for victory over a loaded field.
Nigeria’s world record holder Tobi Amusan took silver in 12.29sec, with American Grace Stark claiming bronze in 12.34sec.
Olympic champion Masai Russell finished fourth with 12.44sec.
Ireland’s Sarah Lavin bowed out in the semi-finals.