These days, when one world record falls in the Wanda Diamond League, another is never far away. In June 2023, Paris became the first Diamond League meeting ever to see two world records on a single night. Since then, it has happened again and again and again.
So when Jakob Ingebrigtsen stormed to a breathtaking 3000m world record in Silesia on Sunday, it was only natural to wonder where the next one was coming from. Ingebrigtsen's 7:17.55 - which shaved more than three seconds of Daniel Komen's previous world record from 1996 - came early in the evening, leaving plenty of time for more history to be made.
Step forward Mondo Duplantis, a man who knows better than most what it takes to make history. Going into the Kamila Skolimowska Memorial, the 24-year-old had already broken the pole vault world record nine times in his young career, most recently with his 6.25m winning jump in the Olympic final. In Silesia, the Swedish superstar set his sights on the next historic height.
When the conditions are right, it seems that no height is beyond Duplantis, and on Sunday, the conditions were perfect. Earlier in the competition, Olympic bronze medallist Emmanouil Karalis had cleared 6.00m for the first time in his career, while silver medallist Sam Kendricks had done so for the first time since 2020. Duplantis himself had breezed to the same height with only three jumps.
There was a sense of inevitability, then, when the Wanda Diamond League official timekeeper OMEGA set the bar to 6.26m at the end of the competition. Duplantis failed his first attempt, but looked calm as he stepped up for the second. Sure enough, he cleared the bar cleanly, adding another centimetre to his historic best and making Silesia the fourth Diamond League meeting ever to see a double world record.
It was the third time Duplantis had broken the world record in 2024 and the second time he had done so in the current Diamond League campaign. Even on a night when 10 meeting records were broken and Ingebrigtsen also made history on the track, Duplantis' winning jump was still the OMEGA Moment of the Meeting.
"My first world record also came in Poland, indoors in Torun, so I have great memories from here," said Duplantis afterwards. "I am not surprised with the record today, but I am thankful. It is just about being in good shape and believing you can do it."
The only question now is what comes next. As he eyes a fourth straight Diamond Trophy at the series final in Brussels on September 13th-14th, Duplantis will also have his sights set on the next milestone at 6.27m.
"I always want to jump as high as I possibly can and to keep pushing. I have never hit a jump that felt absolutely perfect, so I alwayss feel like I can do better," he said.
