American Mondo Duplantis breaks pole vaulting record competing for Sweden at the Olympics
American-born pole vaulter Armand “Mondo” Duplantis broke a world record for a ninth time at the Paris Olympics on Monday and brought home a gold medal for Sweden.
The Louisiana-born 24-year-old athlete cleared 6.25 meters Monday, beating the mark of 6.24 meters he set in the Xiamen Diamond League in China in April, launching higher than a giraffe on each record-breaking vault. Silver went to Sam Kendricks of the U.S. with a vault of 5.95 meters and Greece’s Emmanouil Karalis took bronze with a vault of 5.90 meters.
Duplantis has been breaking world records since February 2020. In addition to Olympic gold in Paris and in Tokyo, he’s won four World Championships — two indoors and two outdoors. The Olympics compared Duplantis’ dominance in the world of pole vaulting to swimmer Katie Ledecky‘s skills in the 1,500 meter freestyle and Simone Biles‘ skills in gymnastics.
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Both of Duplantis’ parents are athletes and his father pole vaulted in the U.S. According to the Olympics, the elder Duplantis’ pole vault personal best was 5.80 meters in 1993.
Though Duplantis was born in the U.S. and went to college in Louisiana, he competes for Sweden, his mother’s native country. He spent his summers in Sweden as a child, according to the Olympics.
Duplantis attended Louisiana State University, the same school as runner Sha’Carri Richardson, according to the Olympics. The pole vaulter moved to Sweden after college. He was named Swedish Newcomer fo the Year in 2018 and Swedish Male Athlete of the Year in 2019, 2021 and 2022.
He isn’t the only athlete competing for a country other than the one they were born in. Kaylia Nemour, a gymnast who took home gold for Algeria in the women’s uneven bars final, was born in France. Her father is Algerian.
