After the jumps at 5.55, 5.85 and 5.95, it was time for Armand Duplantis to get serious in the World Championship final at the National Arena.
He rummaged in his bag and pulled out a new pair of shoes.
In the final, there were seven jumpers competing for the medals. But after Duplantis cleared 6.10 and 6.15, his third consecutive World Championship gold was secured.
Then the jumping was about other heights.
I had to secure the victory first, that was the most important thing, and after that, regardless of what energy level I had, I would try for the world record, he says.
Followed Warholm
With the bar at 6.30 meters, the shoes became even more important.
The model, which has a spike at the front and is covered by a plastic cover, Duplantis calls "the claw". He started using these last year and has been inspired by the solution used by Norwegian and hurdler Karsten Warholm.
The story of how "Mondo" started using these shoes is really special, Romain Girard, who is part of the shoe brand's development team, previously told TT.
Karsten and his coach Leif Olav Alnes explained the benefits of the shoes. "Mondo" became so enthusiastic about the development and asked us what we could do for him.
The shoe manufacturer immediately started the process of adapting Warholm's shoes to pole vaulting and in Xiamen last year, Duplantis got the chance to test his own.
Result: 6.24 meters.
Becomes faster
The shoes make him faster, which results in higher jumps, said Girard.
In pole vaulting, horizontal speed is converted to vertical speed directly after you have placed the pole in the box. It gives you a greater opportunity to jump higher.
Duplantis himself says that he does not use the shoes that often.
I had the pair at the Paris Olympic Games and when I have used them, it has resulted in world records a few times. It's when I want to give myself a slightly better chance of succeeding that I use the pair.
In the World Championship in Tokyo, the Swede failed his first two attempts at 6.30. The third time he cleared – and thus set a world record for the 14th time in his career.
With the shoes, I get an extra push during the first part of the approach, I get a higher speed right away, he says.
