Armand Duplantis soaks in glory after breaking pole vault world record for 11th time: ‘What can I say… I just did it’

Armand Duplantis soaks in glory after breaking pole vault world record for 11th time: ‘What can I say… I just did it’

Armand Duplantis soaks in glory after breaking pole vault world record for 11th time: ‘What can I say… I just did it’ ByHT Sports Desk Mar 01, 2025 07:58 PM IST Share Via Copy Link Armand Duplantis is a two-time Olympic (2020 and 2024) champion, and he broke the pole vault world record for the 11th time in his career.

Armand Duplantis is regarded by many as the greatest pole vaulter of all time. On Friday he lived up to that label at the All-Star Perche meet in Clermont-Ferrand, France. The Swede broke the world pole vault record for the 11th time in his career, soaring to 6.27 metres. He held the previous world-best of 6.26 metres, which he registered at the Silesia Diamond League in August 2024.

Swedish athlete Armand Duplantis poses next to a screen displaying his record as he celebrates after beating his own world record at 6.27m.(AFP)

Only Sergey Bubka (of erstwhile Soviet Union) has broken the world pole vault record more times (13) than Duplantis.

He first broke the world record in 2020, as he cleared 6.17 metres in Poland, breaking Renaud Lavillenie’s 6.14 from 2014. Then seven days later, he broke his own record, clearing 6.18 metres. In 2022, he broke the world record thrice, twice in 2023 and then four times in 2024.

Speaking to reporters, Duplantis said, “I just felt really good. What can I say, I came here to do it. I put everything in place to do it. The run-up worked really well. I just did it.”

“When I made this song a couple of months ago, I thought this would be a perfect song to jump to here. That's why I rushed it out,” he added.

Duplantis is a two-time Olympic (2020 and 2024) champion, two-time World outdoor (2022 and 2023) and indoor champion, and is also the current European champ. As a 15-year-old, he won titles at the 2015 World Youth C’ships, and then came third a year later at the World U20 C’ships.

In 2017, he bagged the European U20 title, and then the World U20 title the next year. He is also one of the few athletes to win World C’ship titles at the youth, junior and senior levels of athletes.

During his glittering career, he has won numerous awards and accolades, and last year he received the 2024 BBC Sports Personality World Sport Star of the Year.