RTL Today – Sweden’s Duplantis retains the European pole vault title
Sweden’s Armand ‘Mondo’ Duplantis retained his European pole vault title in comprehensive fashion in Munich on Saturday.
Duplantis, fresh from breaking his own world record in Eugene when he took world gold with 6.21m last month, set a championship record of 6.06m for gold at the Olympic Stadium.
Germany’s Bo Kanda Lita Baehre took silver with a best of 5.85m, while Norway’s Pal Haugen Lillefosse took bronze (5.75).
Entering the continental spectacle, Duplantis was on an 18-race winning streak and was once again a class apart from a field that battled all the way in cool, damp conditions.
Duplantis came in at 5.65m, with two rivals already out of action.
The US-born Swede sailed over that mark, another trio of vaulters fell by the wayside and passed at 5.75m, as did France’s three-time European champion and former Olympic gold medalist Renaud Lavillenie.
The Frenchman faltered three times at 5.85m, while Duplantis flew over at that mark. Similar successes came at 5.90 and 5.95m.
Lita Baehre was at that stage out of the competition, so Duplantis raised the bar to 6.06m.
The Swede braced himself, launched down the track and powered himself clear to better 1cm from the previous championship best set by Soviet and Ukrainian big man Sergey Bubka.
Any thoughts of another attempt to better his own world record were short-lived, but Duplantis quickly told officials he had had enough.