Mondo Duplantis Breaks World Record For 14th Time, Earning Third World Title

In a perfect world, Mondo Duplantis would have broken the world record on his seventh try in the men’s pole vault, issuing a perfect series of jumps at the World Outdoor Track and Field Championships on Monday in Tokyo.

Sometimes, though, perfection isn’t as fun.

Instead, the world’s greatest pole vaulter in history needed his third and final try to eclipse the bar at 6.30 meters (20 feet, 8 inches), solidifying his 14th world record in the event since 2020. He took nine attempts total on Monday.

“I felt like I was really close at the last Olympics here,” Duplantis said in the press conference afterward. “I think the difference-maker was being able to have the spectators and have the full energy of the crowd. Because it’s one of the best stadiums and atmospheres and experiences that I’ve ever had.”

Behind The Growing Success Of Mondo Duplantis

The Swedish superstar earned his third world championship at the age of 25, following previous wins in Budapest and Eugene. He’s also won the last two Olympic titles in Tokyo and Paris.

At this current juncture, Duplantis just keeps going up and up and up.

Who knows how far he’ll eventually end up going–but for perspective, Frenchman Renaud Lavillenie last owned the world record before Duplantis and that mark stood at 6.18.

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The winning mark on Monday, which moved up to 6.30 after Greece’s Emmanouil Karalis missed his final attempt at 6.15, eclipsed the Swedish athlete’s former world best of 6.29 on August 12 at the Hungarian Grand Prix in Budapest.

Duplantis’ series went like this: 5.5, 5.85, 5.95, 6.00, 6.10, 6.15 and 6.30.

“I felt like I had confidence the whole time, honestly,” he said. “The first jump, warm-up, whatever. The first time on the runway I felt really confident.

While he remarked afterward that nine attempts wasn’t optimal to break a world record, his finish nonetheless marked his third world record of 2025 so far. Karalis was second overall, topping out at 6.00, while Australian Kurtis Marschall submitted a bronze-medal performance at 5.95.

American Sam Kendrick, who was the Olympic silver medalist in Paris, was fourth and also cleared 5.95 meters.

How Mondo Duplantis Set Up His World Title

After two near misses on his final attempt, Duplantis wowed the crowd on his final run. The athlete, who grew up in Louisiana and graduated from high school in the states before attending LSU, has made it a career-penchant of finishing out competitions at the pole vault pit – typically, field events end before races on the track.

On Monday, the final event of the day was tabbed for the women’s 100-meter hurdles, which also saw a shocking finish: Switzerland’s Ditaji Kambundji earning gold with a time of 12.24 seconds.

But the world’s best?

Sometimes they just know when to grab a crowd.

“I have to make sure that I win first and I have to make sure I take home the gold,” Duplantis said. “I was always going to do whatever was necessary for that, and then after that, no matter where the energy level was, I was at least going to take jumps at the world record.”