Duplantis sets pole vault meet record in season-opener at ISTAF Indoor in Berlin
BERLIN (AP) — Pole vaulter Armand Duplantis set a new meeting record on his return from a winter break by jumping 6.10 meters at the ISTAF Indoor meet in Berlin on Friday.
The Swedish star attempted to beat his own world outdoor record set in Chorzów, Poland last August with two attempts at 6.27, but it was too high this time for the 25-year-old who broke the outdoor record three times last year.
The second time was when he won his second Olympic gold medal with a record jump of 6.25 in Paris. He extended the world outdoor record by a centimeter to 6.26 in Poland on Aug. 25.
Duplantis needed two attempts to clear 6.10, putting it down to “rust” in his first competition since September. It’s the best indoor mark so far this year.
“It was a good season-opener,” Duplantis said. “Of course, your first competition, there’s always a little bit of rust that you kinda have to knock off, but I think the energy of everybody here really really helped me.”
The meet at the 12,000-capacity arena beside the Spree River was a sell-out, and Duplantis was cheered on by, it seemed, everyone at each attempt.
“I try to channel the energy that everybody’s giving me as much as I can, but at the end of the day, you don’t really think about it,” he said. “You’re just trying to make the bar and you’re trying to keep it as simple as possible. But of course, you feel it. You feel the energy. You feel everybody. You feel the crowd and the roar and everything like that. And it’s very important. It gives you a lot.”
Duplantis, widely known as “Mondo,” has broken the world outdoor record 10 times in his career — each time by one centimeter — and the world indoor record five times.
Emmanouíl Karalís also delighted the fans on Friday by jumping 5.94 on his second attempt for a new Greek record.
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By CIARÁN FAHEY
AP Sports Writer
