Duplantis, Armand (1999-…), is a Swedish American pole vaulter. Duplantis, who is known by the nickname Mondo, has set a number of world records. He became the youngest person ever to pole-vault over 6 meters when he vaulted 6.05 meters (19.84 feet) in 2018 at the age of 18. Duplantis later won multiple Olympic and World Athletics gold medals and became known as one of the greatest athletes in track and field history.
Duplantis was born on Nov. 10, 1999, in LaFayette, Louisiana, to an athletic family. His father, Greg, was a pole vaulter, and his mother, Helena, also competed in track and field. Armand started pole-vaulting at the age of 3, picking up the sport from his father. Armand’s older brothers, Andreas and Antoine, as well as his younger sister, Johanna, have all competed in pole-vaulting. His brother Antoine was drafted as a baseball player for the New York Mets organization.
Armand’s record-breaking career began in middle school. At the age of 10, his vault of 3.86 meters (12.66 feet) broke the world record for his age and also exceeded that for 11-year-olds and 12-year-olds. In 2015, Duplantis won the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) World Youth Championship. He was both a European Champion and U20 (under 20) Champion in 2018. Duplantis enrolled in Louisiana State University in 2018. In 2019, he was named the Southeastern Conference (SEC) Field Athlete of the Year and Freshman Athlete of the Year for both indoor and outdoor sports. He earned a gold medal at the 2019 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Indoor Track and Field Championships. In June 2019, Duplantis announced that he would be going professional, effectively ending his collegiate sports career after one season.
In 2020, Duplantis set the indoor pole-vaulting world record when he vaulted 6.18 meters (20.28 feet). Later that year, he broke a long-standing outdoor pole-vaulting world record when he vaulted 6.15 meters (20.18 feet). Duplantis won the pole-vaulting gold medal while representing Sweden at the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo. The 2020 Summer Olympics were held in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Duplantis set new records in 2022 by vaulting 6.20 meters (20.34 feet) at an indoor meet and 6.21 meters (20.37 feet) outdoors. He broke both records in 2023, vaulting 6.22 meters (20.41 feet) indoors and 6.23 meters (20.44 feet) at an outdoor meet. His vault of 6.24 meters (20.47 feet) at an outdoor meet in 2024 set yet another record. At the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris, France, Duplantis vaulted 6.25 meters (20.51 feet), setting new world and Olympic records.
