The rest of the pole vault field at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo stepped up their game for sure. But Mondo Duplantis still stood head and shoulders above everyone, delivering yet another record-setting performance before an announced crowd of 53,124 at Japan’s National Stadium. It is his 14th world record and fourth of 2025 alone.
Sweden’s Duplantis claimed his third world championship on Monday night, clearing a world record 6.30 meters to beat out Greece’s Emanouil Karalis, who cleared 6.15 meters to claim silver, and Australia’s Kurtis Marschall, who cleared 5.95 meters to bag bronze.
A Special Record for Mondo Duplantis
Mondo Duplantis, in an interview after the finals, described his record-setting performance as “way more special” compared to his first 13 record setters, as it came on the biggest stage of athletics—the World Championships.
“For sure, it’s way more special,” said Duplantis, who coincidentally won the first of his eight major senior international titles—an Olympic gold in this case—also at Japan National Stadium in the 2021 Tokyo Games. “Of course it’s going to make the biggest splash, because this is our most important competition of the year, and that’s where the most eyeballs are going to be watching me too.”
What’s more, Mondo Duplantis accomplished his record-setting feat against a field that seemingly raised the bar very high in the pole vault finals. In fact, 7 of the 12 finalists cleared 5.90 meters—the first time it has happened in history. One of those was Marschall’s personal best 5.95 meters, while the other two—Sam Kendricks’s 5.95 meters and Sondre Guttormsen’s 5.90 meters—were season bests. France’s Thibaut Collet and the Netherlands’ Menno Vloon also cleared 5.90 meters.
EJ Obiena, the Philippines’ own, failed to make the finals after bowing out in the qualifiers.
No Letting Up for Mondo Duplantis
While a 14th world record is impressive and definitely worth celebrating, it appears Mondo Duplantis will do so only for “at least a really good night,” as he cannot help but look forward to “the next thing, always.”
At the rate Mondo Duplantis is going, a 15th record might be in the offing sooner rather than later.
