Mondo Duplantis has wound his way up a carpeted staircase, passing under chandeliers and all the delicate trappings of a gorgeous 18th- century villa near Musée d’Orsay. He is clutching an espresso and is mildly apologetic for sounding so croaky. Around 14 hours have passed since the stunning jump, a world record, that garnished his Olympic pole vaulting title and it is fair to say he has not slept for many of them. There have been childhood friends to party with and several months of intense dietary discipline to fleetingly cast aside.
“I was able to have some fried chicken last night and then pizza probably two hours ago, honestly,” he says at a half-whisper. “So we are off to a good start.” This might be the morning after the night before but Duplantis has earned the right to kick back. The world has cottoned on to the fact he is a phenomenon, so utterly brilliant at a compelling, bizarre discipline that nobody really comes close.
“The competition is probably the best it’s ever been, the level is very high,” he says. “I just happen to be jumping at a little bit of a higher level than them. I think everyone else is doing their job quite well, I’m just jumping really good.”
His clearance of 6.25m was a full 30cm higher than that of the silver medallist, Sam Kendricks. What does it feel like when you are swinging into the night sky, hanging in the air and then swooping down to an enthralled reception from 80,000 punters? “Everything happens so fast, it’s like my body just takes over in the moment. You’re in a state where everything just flows naturally.
“It’s crazy. I think last night, that specific moment, I’d visualised it thousands of times. I can remember so many times being in my parents’ back yard and visualising that bar being at the world record and it’s the Olympic final.”
It has become common currency among athletes: the notion of manifesting, of dreaming the thing you want to be. Ollie Watkins, the England footballer whose goal sent them to the Euro 2024 final last month, spoke lengthily at the time about a similar approach. When things come off this spectacularly, it is all very well.
“I close my eyes, take a deep breath and then just picture it in my head, the jump that I want to happen,” says Duplantis of his thought process when he first clasps his hands on the pole. “It doesn’t always go like that but I think you get a much better chance if you can picture it in your head. I think that kind of positive mindset, visualisation, manifestation, is very important to make it happen.”
Pole vaulting has its moment in the sun thanks to a 24-year-old with beguiling, doe-eyed star quality. In Sweden, which the Louisiana-born athlete represents owing to his mother’s nationality, the usual diet of Monday night football was cleared so television channels could focus on the pole vault. He is protective of his sport, hoping people embrace its quirks while appreciating the all- round accomplishment involved in mastering it.
“It’s a strange sport I guess,” he says. “I’m probably a bit biased but I don’t think there’s anything that’s more entertaining than pole vaulting. It’s exotic, it’s kind of a circus-level event and it’s so special.
“I think people probably don’t understand that you still have to be a real athlete to do what we do. You have to be fast and you have to be strong, you have to pretty much have a combination of everything in order to be top of the top. I hope I can push this sport forward just by doing a good job. I want it to be in the spotlight.”
Duplantis’s pedigree has become well known. He has athletics in his blood; father Greg a pole vaulter who could jump 5.80m and mother Helena a noted heptathlete for Sweden. Helena’s father was a national-level pole vaulter too. A pit was created in their back yard so that the four Duplantis children could practise should they wish to. All of them can more than hold their own but Mondo – full name Armand – would probably find himself at risk if he looked to recreate old times at home.
The husky voice can manage a laugh. “I haven’t really jumped there since I was 15 or 16. It would be cool to. But there’s the pit and then the neighbours’ back wall alongside the pit, so it’s a little bit sketchy and doesn’t feel that safe to be jumping six metres.”
A video of Duplantis’s post-victory meeting with Noah Lyles, the men’s 100m champion, quickly went viral. They have become two of this summer’s stellar faces, winners to inspire a new generation, and it is some company to keep. “What Noah’s been doing, the transition from 200m to being the absolute fastest in 100m is nothing short of incredible,” he says. “He talks a big game but he backs it up. We’re both in the same corner, just pushing the sport as much as we possibly can.”
Fresh, or perhaps not so much, from pushing the boundaries it is time to enjoy more of the uninhibited diet he has been craving. He will retrace his steps through this property, given over to the Olympics’ timekeeper Omega for these few weeks, and join his family for lunch. The next challenge will come around soon enough but, at the same time, could not appear further away. Thoughts of the future can wait.
“Why would I think about anything else right now other than enjoying this moment?” he says. “I always want to get better and do more, so I know motivation is not anything I need to worry about. But right now I’m going to enjoy the heck out of this.”
