Record-breaker Duplantis retains Olympic pole vault title / Photo: Ben STANSALL - AFP
Record-breaker Duplantis retains Olympic pole vault title
Sweden's Armand Duplantis improved his own world record en route to retaining his Olympic pole vault title in Paris on Monday.
In a sensational finish to the fifth day of track and field at the Stade de France, Duplantis sailed over the bar raised to 6.25 metres to rapturous applause from a 69,000-capacity crowd.
It bettered by 1cm his own previous best of 6.24m set at the Xiamen Diamond League meet in April.
Remarkably it was the ninth time the US-born Swede had broken the record.
In the competition before the procession, American Sam Kendricks won silver with a best of 5.95m, Greece's Emmanouil Karalis taking bronze (5.90) on countback.
The gold meant Duplantis became the first man to retain the pole vault title since American Bob Richards in 1952 and 1956.
As soon as he crashed down on the landing mat after his third and final successful attempt at 6.25m, Duplantis bounced away on the track to embrace family and friends in the stands.
Draped in the Swedish flag and with Abba's "Dancing Queen" booming around the stadium, Duplantis made an emotional lap of the track.
The music halted as he leaned down to ring the victory bell, capping yet another exceptional display from the irrepressible 24-year-old.
S.Smith--EWJ
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