Armand Duplantis broke the men’s pole vault world record for the 13th time, and third time this year,with a stunning 6.29m clearance at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
The 25-year-old Olympic and world champion surpassed his previous record of 6.28m, which he set at the Stockholm Diamond League meeting in June. He achieved the new mark on his second attempt in Budapest on Tuesday.
Duplantis first claimed the world record in February 2020, clearing 6.17m in Poland to surpass Renaud Lavillenie’s long-standing mark. Since then, the Swede has made a habit of progressing the record in one-centimetre increments.
After missing his first attempt at 6.11m, Duplantis had the bar raised to 6.29m. Greece’s Emmanouil Karalis had retired after two failed efforts at 6.11m, and Duplantis capitalised, clearing the new height despite a slight rattle of the bar.He ran straight to the crowd to celebrate with his family and partner, Desire Inglander.
Duplantis is set to compete again on Saturday at the Silesia Diamond League in Poland, the same venue where he broke the world record last year. Next month, he will head to Tokyo in pursuit of a third consecutive world outdoor title, aiming to join Sergey Bubka as the only man to achieve the feat.