Duplantis, widely known by his nickname ‘Mondo’, made clear his intentions upon reaching the final. While he knew he had work to do to capture the gold, the world record was “on the cards” in the showpiece.
Everybody else had already made that assumption.
World record talk has replaced any discussion of the destination of men’s pole vault gold medals since he first succeeded Frenchman Renaud Lavillenie as the world record holder by clearing 6.17m in February 2020.
And, with World Athletics offering a $100,000 world record bonus, on top of the $70,000 awarded to gold medallists at the championship, there was no lack of motivation to deliver in front of another expectant global audience.
Duplantis has already won every major gold available to him, while last year he became the first man to retain the Olympic pole vault title for 68 years at Paris 2024.
Now it is a case of how many he will end up with – and, perhaps more pertinently, how high he can go.
www.bbc.com
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