When Mondo Duplantis won the Wanda Diamond League title with a world record 6.23m jump in Eugene last September, nobody thought they had seen the best of him. In the last six years, the Swedish star has turned the athletics world upside down, smashing the world record on multiple occasions, sweeping to every major global title and pushing the boundaries of what is possible in the men's pole vault. 6.23m was good, but most expected Duplantis to break the record again in 2024.
Even so, few could have imagined what they were about to see when Duplantis took to the track for the Wanda Diamond League season opener in Xiamen on Saturday.
Despite apparently tricky conditions (heavy rains had hammered the Egret Stadium just an hour or so before the pole vault began), Duplantis came out purring as he launched his bid to win a fourth straight Diamond League title this season.
The Olympic, world and Diamond League champion took just three jumps to reach 6.00m and put the rest of the field behind him, claiming a first win on the Road to the Final. After that, he did what he always does these days: set his sights on a new world record.
"The six-metre jump felt really smooth. I didn't know exactly how my body was going to react in terms of fatigue. So I was just thinking I wanted to attack the 6.24m bar as soon as I possibly could. It definitely felt like it was within reach after that six-metre attempt," said Duplantis.
"For me to jump a world record, I need everything to be in the right place. Today, the track was great, there was no wind, and there was a great energy from the crowd. Pretty much everything added up for me today, and I was able to jump high."
And how. Duplantis sailed over 6.24m as if he were in a training session, adding another centimetre to this previous world record and stunning the world of track and field once again. Despite all the other stellar performances clocked by the Wanda Diamond League's official timekeeper on Saturday, this was the undisputed OMEGA Moment of the Meeting.
It was the eighth world record of his career, and perhaps one of his most impressive yet. This time around, Duplantis had broken it with just his fourth jump of the outdoor season. It was, perhaps, an ominous sign of things to come in an Olympic year. As he brushed off the dust after the meeting, he insisted that he could go higher.
"It's definitely possible, conditions willing. I am going to try and maximise the most out of every day. Other than the 6.24m jump, which felt really nice, I don't think I jumped perfectly today. There is definitely more to give."
