‘You are not real’ – Mondo Duplantis breaks world record for 11th time and launches new career in same day
Armand Duplantis has further cemented his GOAT status after breaking the pole vaulting record for an incredible 11th time.
But he had two reasons to celebrate, as the multi-talented athletics superstar also released his first single as a musical artist on the very same day.
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After becoming a double gold medal winning Olympian at Paris 2024 last summer, Duplantis has made it his goal to go where no pole vaulter has gone before in each and every appearance.
In a run stretching back to 2020 when he first broke the world record, the super Swede’s all-time leap now stands at 6.27m, which he cleared at the All Star Perche event in France on Friday.
The 25-year-old eased to victory in the competition in Clermont-Ferrand, west of Lyon, as he cleared 6.02m to beat his rivals.
He then set his sights on breaking his own record for the 11th time - something he failed to do at the final Diamond League event of 2024 in September.
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At that event in Brussels in September he managed to jump 6.11m - 15cm off his current best - despite admitting he ‘felt terrible’.
That’s because just 11 days prior he took part in a 100m exhibition race against 400m hurdles world record holder Karsten Warholm, where he proved why he is one of the most complete athletes in the world by winning with a time of 10.37 seconds.
Conceding that the race took its toll on his body and wrecked his chances of making more history at the end of 2024, he came back determined to put it right in his first major appearance of 2025.
Duplantis’ previous record was set back in August in Poland, jumping 6.26m.
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It didn’t take long for him to exceed it in France on Friday, and he nudged his record up by a centimetre with his very first attempt.
“I just felt really good,” Duplantis said. “What can I say, I came here to do it. I put everything in place to do it. The run-up worked really well. I just did it.”
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Duplantis broke the record for the first time back in February 2020 with a height of 6.17m. He was just 20 years of age and beat the mark set by Renaud Lavillenie of France that had stood for nearly six years.
Incredibly, he has continued to top his best for the last five years by progressing one centimetre each time.
Duplantis secured a second successive Olympic title in the summer with a world record of 6.25 and improved his mark for a third time in 2024 with his achievement in Poland.
He has secured ten major international athletics titles in the process.
But it’s not only on the track where he’s showing off his wide array of talents - although, don't ask him about golf - with the Swede also dabbling in the music industry having just released his first ever single.
Released under the name ‘Mondo’, his first song ‘Bop’ was released on Friday to make it a memorable day for the Swedish star.
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"You are not real," his fiancée, Swedish model Desire Inglander, commented on social media as she reacted to his double success on and off the track.
The song even played in the arena as he completed his record-breaking jump.
“When I made this song a couple of months ago, I thought this would be a perfect song to jump to here,” Duplantis said. “That’s why I rushed it out.”
Was it worth rushing out? Listen to the tune below and see for yourself…