06 April, 2024

Mondo Duplantis: “I’m living in the moment”

Photo: Matthew Quine

In the second part of our exclusive interview, pole vault world record holder Mondo Duplantis talks about the joy of competing in Stockholm, breaking the world record in Eugene and chasing Renaud Lavillenie’s record of seven Diamond League titles.

Click here to read the first part of the interview.

Your first win came a year later in front of your home crowd in Stockholm. A few years later, you also set a new world outdoor best of 6.16m in the same stadium. Is that always your favourite Diamond League meeting?
Definitely. For me, the Stockholm Diamond League is always going to be special. I think as track athletes, we often don't really have that team sport feeling, that sense of home advantage. But when I'm at Stockholm Stadium and I'm on the track there and we're competing at the Diamond League meet, it almost feels like I have to defend the turf. That just ups my game and fills me with adrenaline. It’s kind of like a mini championship in a way. And I think that it kind of shows with my results also for the past few years. My best results always come in Stockholm…as long as the weather's okay (laughs).

I don’t think anyone will ever forget last year, when the rain delayed the start of the pole vault and you ended up attempting the world record on your own two hours after the end of the competition…
That’s the unfortunate reality of jumping in Sweden: we can't really depend on the weather so much. But I think that day showed a lot about the Swedish fans. It had been raining, it was cold, it was disgusting weather and pretty much the entire stadium stayed just to watch the pole vault. That was such an amazing experience for me and one of those very memorable nights with very special feelings. It’s a special event for me, and I always try to compete as well as I can on the day, whatever the Swedish weather gives us.

That wasn’t the first time you had gone late at a Diamond League meet. You did the same at the 2021 final in Zurich, when you won your first title. What was it like to win that trophy for the first time? You’d had a couple of near misses by that point, and you were already Olympic champion and world record holder. But the Diamond Trophy was still missing right from your cabinet, right?
Yeah, it was one of the last trophies I was able to get besides the World Championships. I got really close in 2019, but I think Sam beat on the last attempt at 5.90m. So it took me a little bit of time to get my hands on that trophy. The Diamond League Final is always a very important competition. You always want to end the season on a high note and it’s a title which has a lot of weight for us. But it’s a really tough one to win, and getting that first title is always special.

You won your third straight title in Eugene last year, breaking the world record at 6.23m with your final jump. Did you know going into that day that you were in that kind of form?
Not really. I think it was one of the least expected world records I have broken. I wasn’t absolutely on fire and the jumps leading up to it weren’t all that pretty. Even the six-metre jump which came before was quite sloppy. And then I just went straight to 6.23m because I knew I didn't have many jumps left in my body. It was a long year, and it was the last competition of the season. I had just been trying to save as much energy as possible and put together the best jump I could on that day. It was a new experience for me as well, because I had never jumped a world record that late in the season before. It was a crazy way to end the year.

How were the celebrations that night?
(laughs) It was a big night. Maybe a little too big! I guess that’s how things work out when you break the world record on the last day of the season and your two brothers are there to celebrate with you! I don’t always celebrate like that, but at the same time, I try not to take those moments for granted. When you break the world record, you have to celebrate in the right way.

You’ve now broken the world record seven times and won every major title there is to win. How do you keep up the hunger? How do you go into a new season like this and say: I want this as much as I wanted it before?
I feel like you're just always in this competition with yourself. And I think that for me, the motivation is always there because it just keeps on getting harder and harder to improve. The amount of improvement that I'm able to make is always a little bit less. It’s just tiny little increments now at this point, even just to get a little bit better. So for me, that’s almost more motivation. I just keep trying to be the best version of myself that I possibly can be. And I also just love everything about what I do. I love pole vaulting, I love the travel, and I just love the life that I am able to live right now. I think that as long as I have the passion and I have the joy of competing, then I think that there's no problem with motivation.

"When I have six titles, we can talk about winning seven"

What are those incremental things that you can improve? Is there any way you can improve your technique now, or is it all just about fitness and mentality?
I think it's a little bit of everything. There are always little ways to improve in every aspect of being a pole vaulter. The mental side has always come very naturally to me and been one of my stronger suits. But it’s also a very physical event. There's always ways to improve as far as your speed and strength and those things. And then it’s also extremely technical. There are so many complexities and so many ways to be able to complete a nice fluid jump. As long as I can just improve just a tiny bit in all those aspects, then that can always lead to bigger results.

If you win the Diamond League title again this year, it’ll be your fourth in a row. Have you already got your sights set on Renaud Lavillenie’s record of seven successive Diamond Trophies?
I try not to think about that too much. It would be great if I can get seven Diamond League titles, but it’s also pretty tough to get past four. Nothing is guaranteed in this sport and you have to earn it every single day. Just because I go into the competitions as the favourite, doesn't mean they just gave me the title right there and then. I’ve got to go in there and jump at a really high level. I’ve got to earn it. So I focus on one thing at a time. I guess when the day comes when I have six titles, then we can talk about winning seven. And when seven comes, I’ll be looking at eight. But for now, I’m living in the moment.

Mondo Duplantis will launch his defence of the Wanda Diamond League title at the season opener in Xiamen on April 20th.