Tokyo vibrates with “Mondo”

Armand “Mondo” Duplantis exchanged handshakes and hugs with the pole vaulters he had just defeated to capture his third world championship.

He walked calmly toward the stands to speak with his parents, his brother, and his fiancée. Then, like any great artist in a packed stadium, he turned around and returned to the stage to perform the act everyone was waiting for.

It was another world record—the fourteenth time he had set it—as he cleared the bar at 6.30 meters.

Duplantis overtook him on his third and final attempt. It happened more than half an hour after the third day of racing concluded for the evening. But no one in the crowd of 53,000 would dare leave while “Mondo” was present. And “Mondo” made sure to squeeze every drop of drama out of an experience that few in that crowd will soon forget.

“Being able to enjoy this world record with them and give that to them is super special,” Duplantis said. “Especially considering the last time I was in this stadium, we didn't have any fans. It was creepy and strange, and not very fun, honestly.”

The night of his final performance at Japan's National Stadium was during the COVID-19 Olympics, held a year late in 2021 and without fans.

Duplantis settled for "only" the gold medal that time and didn't achieve the world record. The difference, he suspects, was the lack of energy during those silent Games.

This time, there was noise and fun: people clapping to the beat every time Duplantis stood up, and like any great artist, “Mondo” knew how to get the crowd excited.

After surpassing 6.10, he imitated the pre-bat sleeve adjustment routine of legendary Japanese baseball player Ichiro Suzuki.

“My brother was in the crowd, and he plays baseball, so I was trying to cheer him on,” Duplantis said. “And the Japanese, if they understood, it was just a fun thing.”

Cash prize

The Louisiana-born phenomenon, competing for his mother's native Sweden, pocketed $70,000 for the victory — his 49th consecutive since September 2022 — along with the $100,000 bonus awarded to record-breakers at the world championships.

Money isn't the main motivation for a champion who has won every major title—world and Olympic—since the Tokyo Games.

“It’s doing what I know I’m capable of doing,” Duplantis said on the subject.

"As far as motivation goes, it's not a big issue. I know the level at which I can compete, and I kind of demand that of myself."

It's hard to blame the crowd for expecting it, too. Duplantis began breaking records on February 8, 2020, and has broken them on three continents and in nine countries. This latest feat brings the height to a rounded 6.30.

“6.30 sounds really good, really clean, a new benchmark for our sport,” he said. “It sounds better than 6.29,” he said.

But maybe not as good as 6.31.

In fact, Duplantis has wondered if the 6.50 could be in his future.

At this rate, it would take a few more years. The good news is that he's 25, and for comparison, the great Sergey Bubka, who won six consecutive world titles during the 1980s and 1990s, was 31 when he broke the record for the seventeenth and final time.

Bubka's final record was 6.14, and after Frenchman Renaud Lavillenie beat it once, Duplantis took over. He has improved the record by one centimeter each time, giving him maximum opportunities to earn bonuses like the one he'll receive from World Athletics for this one.

“What Mondo has in abundance is what every pole vaulter is trying to achieve,” said Sam Kendricks, the fourth-ranked athlete who was the last man not named Duplantis to win a world title (in 2019). “He has the jump, he has the engines. He has a family that really supports him, and then he has a group of guys who are really pushing him forward.”

Bell

Ditaji Kambundji edged out the world record holder and reigning Olympic champion to win a surprise gold in the 100m hurdles.

After crossing the finish line, Swiss Ditaji looked at the scoreboard, waiting to see where her name would end up. When she saw she was in first place, her eyes widened, and she covered her mouth in shock.

Kambundji finished in a personal best time of 12.24 seconds to beat Nigerian world record holder Tobi Amusan by 0.05 seconds.

American Grace Stark took bronze, while her compatriot Masai Russell, who won gold at the Paris Olympics last summer, finished fourth.

“You could see on my face how happy I was when I realized I won,” Kambundji said.

The most heartbreaking scene yesterday featured steeplechase runner Soufiane El Bakkali, kneeling with his head on the track, his teammate trying to comfort him.

The two-time world and Olympic champion was overtaken at the line by New Zealander Geordie Beamish and finished second by a margin of 0.07 seconds.

“Congratulations on a good race today, but for me, I came here for a different reason,” El Bakkali said.

Despite his discomfort, El Bakkali took a traditional dip in the water moat with Beamish.

Beamish celebrated a gold medal about 48 hours after another memorable scene. He stumbled during qualifying and a runner behind him stepped on his face. But Beamish got back on his feet and reached the final.

“It might have been a blessing in disguise,” Beamish noted. “That gave me a lot of confidence, just being able to pick myself up off the ground and still qualify fairly easily. It gave me confidence that my form was better than I thought.”

In the men's marathon, they ran for over two hours and needed a photo finish to determine the winner. Tanzanian Alphonce Simbu edged out Amanal Petros, an Eritrean representing Germany.

Both recorded a time of 2:09'48”.

“I’ve never seen anything like this in a marathon,” Petros said after being overtaken despite diving and falling at the finish line. “It was something similar to the 100 meters.”

In fact, more closed.

The difference was 0.03 seconds. The differences in Sunday's 100m races, in both groups, were 0.15 and 0.05 seconds, respectively.

It was the second consecutive day that a marathon was decided by a sprint. On Sunday, Kenyan Peres Jepchirchir won the women's race by 0.2 seconds.