Then, on February 8, 2020, pole vaulting great Armand Duplantis jumped 6.17m in an indoor gala in the Polish city of Toruń. Since then, he has raised the world record 14 more times, most recently at his own gala in Uppsala last week, when he raised it by one centimetre to 6.31m.
"It's definitely something special to come back. It was life-changing to set a world record the first time. And there might be some people who saw me jump when I set my first world record, so it probably means a little extra. It could be a pretty good experience," he says ahead of tonight's World Cup competition.
In Uppsala, he tried 22 steps in his approach in competition for the first time, instead of 20. He hopes to be able to use 22 steps in Toruń as well, but is not sure it will be possible because the running tracks are measured.
"We'll see how much space I get, but I've jumped very high with 20 steps too and I know it's a place you can jump high, so I think it'll be good."
Duplantis believes it is possible to set a world record again, just nine days after the Uppsala mark, because he did it with his first two records six years ago, in Toruń and then in Glasgow a week later.
"It's possible. We'll see how I feel. I was very happy to be able to do it in Uppsala, it was fucking awesome."
When asked if it meant more to set the world record on his home turf (competing for Upsala IF) than to do it a second time in Toruń, he said:
"Yes, I would say that. But it would be cool to do both."
