Within the space of one week last February, before the coronavirus pandemic threw preparations askew and led to the postponement of the 2020 Summer Olympics, the springy Swedish starlet Armand Duplantis set two new pole vault world records. At the indoor meet in TorĆŗn, Duplantis broke the six-year record held by Renaud Lavillenie, before adding another centimetre a few days later as he topped a height of 6.18 metres in Glasgow.
Duplantis then at the age of just 20 years old looked all set to echo the achievements of Sergey Bubka, who broke thirty-five pole vault world records over the course of his career, each time raising the bar by the odd centimetre. Since 2000, the pole vault has been unique in the world of track and field for refusing to distinguish between indoor and outdoor records. Duplantis therefore boasted a world record with a dubious caveat, eager to prove himself in less stilted conditions.
That opportunity arrived on Thursday in Rome, as a curtailed Diamond League season reached a climax. After thirteen previous attempts this year from windswept Stockholm to the streets of Lausanne, finally Duplantis sailed over a height of 6.15 metres, setting a new outdoor benchmark in the event, besting the height of 6.14 metres set by Bubka back in 1994. Amid the celebrations, Duplantis said:
‘The 6.15 was really important to me, so I’m happy to get over that. There was kind of this confusion between the indoor and outdoor record – it’s kind of merged. I already had the world record but I wanted to clear everything up and be the best outdoor.’
On a fast track and balmy night in Rome, Jacob Kiplimo kicked past Jakob Ingebrigtsen in the home straight to win the men’s 3000 metres, as the two teenagers entered the record books with the eighth and ninth fastest times in history. Karsten Warholm ran 47.08, the third fastest time of his career, as the Norwegian superstar continues to push for a new world record in the men’s 400 metre hurdles.
Jemma Reekie impressed in the women’s 800 metres, and Yuliya Levchenko held off the challenge from her Ukrainian compatriot Yaroslava Mahuchikh to triumph in the women’s high jump. Meanwhile former champion Elaine Thompson Herah fired a warning shot ahead of the Olympics next year, with a world-leading time of 10.85 in the women’s 100 metres.
