All the work that Mondo Duplantis put in over his career as a pole vaulter paid off in a big way, securing a gold medal in the Men’s Pole Vault event on Tuesday.
The Lafayette native represented his mother’s native Sweden and cleared the bar at 19 feet, 9 inches with room to spare to secure the victory at Tokyo’s Olympic Stadium.
Duplantis bested America’s Christopher Nilsen, who topped Mondo during the NCAA Outdoor Championships in 2019. Nilsen cleared 19 feet, seven inches to secure the silver while Brazil’s Thiago Braz jumped 19 feet, three inches to take home the bronze.
With the victory, Duplantis became the first track and field star to win an individual gold medal since Glen “Stats” Hardin won gold in the 400-meter hurdles at the Berlin Games in 1936.