Mondo Duplantis keeps pushing limits as pole vault world record climbs to 6.29m

Armand “Mondo” Duplantis extended his hold on the men’s pole vault world record in August 2025 with a 6.29m clearance at the Hungarian Grand Prix, his 13th time raising the global mark since first breaking it as a 20-year-old in February 2020.

Duplantis, who has nudged the record up almost exclusively in one-centimetre increments, has left rivals more than 20 centimetres adrift this season and is widely expected to target another record at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo.

His rise has punctuated a discipline that, unlike horizontal jumps where long-standing marks from the 1990s remain intact, has seen frequent incremental progress. For three decades before Duplantis, the event was dominated by Sergey Bubka and Renaud Lavillenie. Bubka set and reset the world record 17 times beginning in the 1980s and Lavillenie raised it to 6.16m in 2014. Duplantis first passed Lavillenie’s mark with a 6.17m vault in February 2020 and moved it to 6.18m less than a week later; since then he has continued to add centimetres.

Those close, technically precise increases reflect both a competitive mindset and strategic considerations. Bonuses at some World Athletics meetings and reported sponsor incentives make a centimetre-to-centimetre approach commercially sensible as well as athletically sustainable, former British record holder Kate Rooney said, adding that the method has helped elevate public interest in pole vault.

Duplantis’s progression grew from an unusual early foundation. He spent part of his youth in Louisiana, where a pole-vault pit in the family backyard allowed long hours of practice. His parents, both former athletes—father Greg an elite pole vaulter and mother Helena a former heptathlete and volleyball player—coached him, and his younger sister Johanna has also become a professional pole vaulter. He briefly attended Louisiana State University before turning professional.

Those early routines translated to outstanding junior marks and an ability to self-coach. Duplantis set a string of international age-group records and vaulted 5.90m at 17, 6.05m at 18 and repeated 6.05m at 19. Todd Lane, a coach at LSU, said Duplantis likely vaulted more hours than anyone else and developed a rare technical understanding of the event, often offering insights while watching others train.

Technical strengths separate Duplantis from his peers. Movement scientists and coaches point to his sprint speed on the runway, consistent timing of the pole drop, a distinctive plant-box technique and a compact in-air form that efficiently converts horizontal speed into vertical height.

Duplantis typically takes 20 steps on the runway and can reach about 10.3 metres per second at takeoff; many elite male vaulters operate in the 9.4–9.7m/s range. He places the pole in the plant box fractionally before the groove and allows it to slide, a method that can help preserve velocity over the last strides. His takeoff is described as "close" or "under," with the foot about 20–30cm in front of the top hand, enabling him to begin bending the pole and transferring running speed into the pole before leaving the ground.

Once airborne, Duplantis executes a tight swing and tuck and times a powerful rotation that takes advantage of the pole’s stored energy as it recoils. For his record attempts he typically uses a 5.2m pole, gripping it just 10–20cm from the top, leaving a metre or more of pole above the bar that must be negotiated during the release and turn.

Observers and competitors describe a blend of showmanship and unflappable mindset. Duplantis has cultivated a sizeable social media following, released music, and has been visible in media moments that widened his appeal beyond track and field. Yet those close to him underline a focus on craft: his sister Johanna says he is confident and humble, and his LSU-era coach and rival coaches note a mental resilience often associated with the world’s top athletes.

“Mondo is super laid-back, very, very talented, and hard-working,” British vaulter Molly Caudery said. Coach Scott Simpson described that combination of speed and mindset as formidable.

The frequency of world-record changes in pole vault—14 times since 1994, 13 of those by Duplantis—has prompted questions about the event’s ceiling. Movement scientist Helen Bayne said some physics-based models point to a theoretical 6.50m mark, but added that mathematical projections can omit biomechanical realities of body positioning and clearance. Former Olympic medallist Holly Bradshaw, who won bronze in pole vault, said she once doubted 6.40m was possible but that Duplantis’s performances defy easy limits.

When asked in an interview about the ceiling for the event, Duplantis said he saw the next major barrier as 6.40m and expected that higher marks were possible, adding that he did not see an end to his progression soon.

Rivals have closed in occasionally; Emmanouil Karalis cleared 6.08m in August 2025, the closest anyone has come to Duplantis this season. But the gap remains substantial, and coaches note that Duplantis’s self-coaching ability, accumulated practice hours and refined biomechanics make him difficult to beat.

The combination of a carefully measured record strategy, technical excellence and marketable personality has changed how the event is presented to audiences. Duplantis’s nine-record Olympic performance in Paris and his continued media presence have drawn new viewers to athletics meets, and his incremental approach to world records keeps attention focused on each meeting where he competes.

As the World Athletics Championships approach, attention will turn to whether Duplantis attempts another centimetre-by-centimetre raise of the world mark and how far he and his sport can stretch what was once seen as a finite limit. Coaches, scientists and competitors say there is no consensus on a final boundary, and Duplantis himself has signalled an intent to keep searching for it.