Sweden's Armand Duplantis cleared 6.31 metres for a new men's pole vault world record at the Mondo Classic in Uppsala on March 12, 2026—his 15th record break, each by one centimetre. The 26-year-old achieved it on his first attempt at the IFU Arena event named after him, extending his winning streak to 38 competitions.
Armand Duplantis, known as 'Mondo', set his latest world record at the fifth edition of the Mondo Classic, an indoor pole vault-only gala organized by his club Upsala IF and part of the World Athletics Indoor Tour Silver series. The US-born Swede, representing his mother's homeland and coached by his parents Greg and Helena, opened with 5.65m, then cleared 5.90m and 6.08m on first attempts. Using a new 22-step approach for the first time in competition, he soared over 6.31m effortlessly on his initial try, surpassing his previous mark of 6.30m from Tokyo in September 2025. The bar wobbled but stayed up.
Norway's Sondre Guttormsen, the 2023 European indoor champion with a personal best of 6.06m, took second at 6.00m on his third attempt, failing at 6.08m. Greece's Emmanouil Karalis, holding the previous yearly best of 6.17m, started at 5.80m, cleared it on his second try, skipped 5.90m, and failed at 6.00m. Zachery Bradford, Sam Kendricks, and Kurtis Marschall tied for third through fifth at 5.90m.
Duplantis expressed overwhelming emotion before the home crowd: "I am so proud to have been able to do this in front of you. I jump for myself, for my family, but also for you, for Sweden, and everyone who supports me." He called the event "my house," adding, "If you come to Sweden to compete against me, it will be even harder to beat me. There are a lot of emotions right now... Setting a world record here was actually incredible." His parents were present; Greg believes the new technique could unlock higher jumps.
This marks Duplantis's 15th world record since taking the mark from Renaud Lavillenie's 6.16m in 2020, following his pattern of one-centimetre gains. Only Sergey Bubka holds more, with 17 outdoor and 18 indoor records in the 1980s and 1990s before unification in 2000. Duplantis has two Olympic golds (retaining in Paris 2024), three outdoor world titles, and grew up with a pole vault pit in his Louisiana home, leveraging sprint speed, technical precision, and custom spikes. This was his second competition of 2026 after winning at 6.06m in Clermont-Ferrand. He is next at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Toruń, Poland, aiming for a fourth straight title.
The record awaits World Athletics ratification.
