Silesia: Olympic champion Armand Duplantis set a new world record in the men’s pole vault at the Silesia Diamond League Kamila Skolimowska Memorial, clearing 6.26 meters on his second attempt.
The 24-year-old Swede had already demonstrated his exceptional talent at the Olympic Games in Paris, where he broke the world record with a jump of 6.25 meters and successfully defended his Olympic title. However, that record lasted only 20 days.
On Sunday, Duplantis thrilled fans once again at the Kamila Skolimowska Memorial, held at the Silesian Stadium in Chorzow, Poland.
The pole vault competition was intense, with Sam Kendricks and Emmanouil Karalis both clearing 6.00 meters. When the bar was raised to 6.08 meters, Kendricks failed three times, and Karalis opted out of the challenge.
With victory already assured, Duplantis attempted to set a new world record at 6.26 meters. His first attempt was far from perfect, but he succeeded on his second try, marking the 10th world record of his career, reports Xinhua.
“I knew I felt really good. The weather was absolutely perfect for jumping high. There was no wind at all, warm, and a great course, so everything depended on me,” Duplantis told the media after the competition.
Duplantis wasn’t the only athlete to set a new world record on Sunday. Jakob Ingebrigtsen, the 5,000-meter gold medalist at the Paris 2024 Olympics, won the men’s 3,000-meter race with a time of 7:17.55, breaking the previous world mark of 7:20.67 set by Kenya’s Daniel Komen in 1996 by over three seconds.
Ethiopia’s Berihu Aregawi took silver with a time of 7:21.28, while his compatriot Yomif Kejelcha claimed bronze with a time of 7:28.44.
“It was an incredible feeling. Of course, I wanted to attack the record, but based on training, I couldn’t predict the exact time. I never imagined running 7:17.55,” Ingebrigtsen told Xinhua.
In other events, Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo won gold in the men’s 200 meters with a time of 19.83 seconds, while Marco Arop of Canada emerged victorious in the 800 meters, clocking 1:41.86. Italy’s Gianmarco Tamberi topped the podium in the men’s high jump with a leap of 2.31 meters.
In the women’s events, Tia Clayton of Jamaica won the 100 meters in 10.83 seconds, ahead of Marie Josee Ta Lou and Tamara Davis. The Dominican Republic’s Marileidy Paulino claimed gold in the women’s 400 meters with a time of 48.66 seconds, followed by Bahrain’s Salwa Eid Naser (49.23) and Poland’s Natalia Kaczmarek (49.95).
(IANS)
