At a press conference before the Diamond League gala in American Eugene, Duplantis signaled that he was aiming for great heights: "It's a good place to jump". He referred to his two previous starts at Hayward Field, which also meant two world records.
Then Duplantis went out and delivered, despite the wind not being the best.
He easily cleared the entry height of 5.60, followed by 5.80 and 6.00 on the second attempt. Thus, the competition was won and he requested the bar to be raised to the world record height of 6.29. But none of the attempts were really close. In an interview with SVT, Duplantis says that the wind caused problems for him:
I had a problem finding a way to control the pole, but it was pretty good anyway.
Two world records
Otherwise, this gala offered two world records.
Beatrice Chebet from Kenya, who ran 5,000 meters in 13:58.06, which makes her the first woman under 14 minutes on the distance.
I had prepared to break the record and I'm so glad I succeeded, says Chebet in SVT's broadcast.
Later, the Kenyan runner Faith Kipyegon concluded the gala by running in with a world record time of 3:48.68 on 1,500 meters.
Shot putter Fanny Roos had a very good competition when she threw 19.27. In total, she made four out of five throws over 19 meters, which shows good form. Roos finished seventh in a high-class competition where the top four threw over 20 meters. Chase Jackson won with 20.94.
Daniel Ståhl didn't get the really long throws in the discus. Ståhl noted 68.59, which meant he finished third. The winner was Mykolas Alekna, Lithuania, who threw 70.97. Second was Ralford Mullings, Jamaica, with 68.96.
