MANILA, Philippines – Out of this “Mondo”.
Armand Duplantis shattered the Olympic and world records in men’s pole vault early Tuesday morning (Manila time) as he bagged his second straight gold medal in the Paris Olympics.
With the Olympic gold medal all but officially won, the 24-year-old Duplantis attempted to clear 6.10 meters, higher than the 6.03 recorded by Thiago Braz in Rio de Janeiro.
And, like the previous heights, the Swede pole vaulter cleared it with ease.
He then upped the ante and pushed the height up to 6.25 meters, but faulted in his first attempt.
Amazingly, this was his first fault of the entire evening.
After missing the mark in his second attempt, he tried for a third time, and this time, he stuck the landing.
He then ran and jumped around the arena as the whole audience cheered for him.
The United States’ Sam Kendricks brought home the silver medal after clearing 5.95 meters.
Greece’s Emmanouil Karalis snagged the bronze via countback.
Both Karalis and Filipino EJ Obiena were unable to clear 5.95 meters, but the Greek skipped the height while the Philippine bet used up all his three attempts.
Karalis also cleared all his attempts but 5.95 meters, compared to Obiena who hit the bar at 5.80 meters.