Armand "Mondo" Duplantis doesn't just break world records — he collects them. On March 12, the 26-year-old Swedish pole vaulter cleared 6.31 meters at the Mondo Classic in Uppsala, Sweden, setting his 15th world record and extending what is already the most remarkable reign of dominance in track and field since Usain Bolt hung up his spikes.
The bar barely trembled. Duplantis sailed over the 6.31-meter mark on his first attempt, brushing the crossbar lightly with his chest before dropping onto the mat. The crowd at his home event — yes, the competition is literally named after him — erupted. And in the background, his own song, "Feelin' Myself," was playing. You genuinely could not script it better.
A Season of High-Flyers
What makes this record especially sweet is the context. Duplantis entered the competition without the best mark of the year — that belonged to Greek vaulter Emmanouil "Manolo" Karalis, who had cleared 6.17 meters to become second on the all-time list behind Duplantis himself, ahead of legends like Sergey Bubka and Renaud Lavillenie.
This season has seen an unprecedented six men clear the six-meter barrier, something never before achieved in the sport's history. The pole vault is experiencing a golden age, and Duplantis is its undisputed king.
His competition at the Mondo Classic was elite. Karalis was there, along with Norway's Sondre Guttormsen, who finished second with an even six meters, and American Sam Kendricks — the last man to beat Duplantis at a major championship, back at the 2019 World Championships in Doha.
None of them came close to challenging his supremacy.
The Numbers
Duplantis set his first world record on February 8, 2020, in Toruń, Poland, clearing 6.17 meters at just 20 years old. Since then, he has raised the bar — quite literally — 14 more times, pushing the record from 6.17 to 6.31 meters in increments that defy the physics of a sport measured in centimeters.
His resume reads like a highlight reel that would be implausible in a movie: double Olympic gold medalist (Tokyo 2021, Paris 2024), triple World Championship gold medalist, and now 15 world records. He is also the defending World Indoor champion heading into the 2026 World Athletics Indoor Championships in Toruń next week, where he will seek a fourth indoor world title.
Renaissance Man
Off the runway, Duplantis has become something of a cultural figure. Born in Lafayette, Louisiana, to an American father (who was himself a competitive pole vaulter) and a Swedish mother, he chose to compete for Sweden and has become one of the country's most beloved athletes.
He recently released his debut single, "Feelin' Myself," which played over the stadium speakers as he set the record — a moment so perfectly choreographed it felt like destiny. Music, athletics, and showmanship woven into a single, soaring leap.
The pole vault community is already speculating about 6.40 meters. For anyone else, that would sound absurd. For Duplantis, it feels inevitable. Centimeter by centimeter, like what one Spanish writer called "a supersonic ant," he continues to conquer the sky — and there is no barrier, it seems, that can resist him.
The next chapter begins in Toruń. But wherever Mondo Duplantis competes, the real question is no longer whether he will win, but how high he will go.
