Armand Duplantis secured his fourth straight indoor world gold in pole vault in Toruń, Poland, after a historic final where Greek Emmanouil Karalis pushed him to a 6.25m jump. It was the best pole vault final in a championship ever, but Duplantis was too tired for a world record attempt. “Grymt kul att ha lite press,” he said.
At Toruń Arena during the indoor athletics world championships, Armand “Mondo” Duplantis competed in the pole vault final on March 21, 2026. The final was described as the best in a championship ever. Duplantis, the Swedish-American born 1999 in Lafayette, Louisiana and representing Upsala IF, won gold at 6.25m, a new championship record. It was his fourth straight indoor world gold and 13th championship gold total, last missed in Doha 2019. Silver went to Emmanouil “Manolo” Karalis of Greece at 6.05m, and bronze to Kurtis Marschall of Australia at 6.00m. Karalis’s PB is 6.17m and he pushed Duplantis to 6.25m for the first time ever in a championship. Duplantis cleared all heights first attempt except 6.25 with a wobble. He made six jumps, four over six meters, and was tired after little rest between jumps. “Det blev inte så mycket vila,” Duplantis said. Nine days earlier he set a world record at 6.31m in Uppsala, and his first was in Toruń 2020. No record attempt this time due to lactic acid. “Jag är en tävlingsmänniska och gillar att tävla. Det var grymt kul att ha lite press och få pusha mig själv lite,” he said of Karalis, who “hoppar sjukt bra just nu.” Wife Desiré Inglander, civilly married in March, was not present. Duplantis plans to celebrate with a Guinness.
