European Championship gold, championship record and bonus – that was the plan for Armand Duplantis in Rome.
But the star changed his mind and made three attempts at the world record height of 6.25 metres.
Just for fun, he says.
Tired and hungry but also happy. Those were the feelings for Armand Duplantis when he left the Olympic Stadium's infield after securing his third European Championship gold (outdoors).
I did what I wanted to do and I jumped really well, just. It felt great. I'm pleased with what I did and European Championship gold is something I don't take for granted. The third time too. It's awesome, says Mondo Duplantis.
The plan was for Duplantis to take 6.10 and thereby secure both the championship record and bonus money of nearly 600,000 kronor. Of course, he did it.
"Both are nice"
But which was more important, the record or the money, he had a hard time choosing.
Both are nice. Both gave me a push to jump over (6.10). The plan was that I wouldn't try for the world record today, my parents and I talked about it and I was mostly interested in winning, taking 6.10 and then chilling. But just for fun, he says about why he still made three attempts at 6.25.
The first attempt at the record was the best.
The 24-year-old has said that he doesn't think the bonus system introduced at the European Championship in Rome, where the winner in a group of events gets a bonus of 50,000 euros, is fair. After securing the bonus, he says:
I like the system because it's a good system for me anyway. Because I won, so I shouldn't complain. But it's a bit of a shame for the others in the jumping events.
Celebrating with pizza or pasta
It became a very long evening – the pole vault took almost 3.5 hours and then there was the prize-giving and interviews. It was a very hungry European Championship gold medallist who at 00.30 talked to Swedish journalists. It became food talk in every other sentence.
This is very late, a bit too late, because I haven't eaten dinner. Now I must focus on finding food only, I'm extremely tired and extremely hungry. I deserve pizza or pasta.
He's now heading home to Sweden and starts preparing for the World Championship. The next competition is the Diamond League meeting in Paris on 7 July.
I have quite a long time until then.
Greek Emmanouil Karalis attempted 5.92, 5.97 and 6.02 but stayed at 5.87 and became second. Ersu Sasma, Turkey, and Oleg Zernikel, Germany, shared third place at 5.82.
Born: 10 November 1999 in Lafayette, Louisiana, USA.
Lives: Stockholm.
Club: Upsala IF.
Nickname: "Mondo".
Main merits: Holds the world record in pole vault at 6.24 since the Diamond League meeting in Xiamen on 20 April 2024. Olympic gold 2021, World Championship gold 2022 and 2023, World Championship silver 2019, indoor World Championship gold 2022 and 2024, European Championship gold 2018, 2022 and 2024, indoor European Championship gold 2021.
