Sweden's Armand Duplantis competes in the men's pole vault final during the World Athletics Championships at the National Athletics Centre in Budapest on August 26, 2023. Armand 'Mondo' Duplantis kicks off his outdoor season at the Xiamen Diamond League meet on April 20, 2024 confident that his "inner" competition will keep pushing him to new heights. - AFP
XIAMEN, China: Sweden's Armand 'Mondo' Duplantis opened his outdoor season in stunning fashion on Saturday as he bettered his own pole vault world record at the Xiamen Diamond League meeting.
Duplantis broke his own pole vault world record with a 6.24 metres effort in the first Diamond League meeting of the 2024 season on Saturday.
Duplantis bettered his previous mark of 6.23 metres set at the Eugene Diamond League finale in September, clearing the bar with ease before leaping up off the sponge mat below and racing off in celebration.
Duplantis, the reigning Olympic, two-time world and European champion, cleared the 6.24 metres at hisvery first attempt at the Egret Stadium to improve by 1cm his previous best set in Eugene last year.
The US-born 24-year-old entered competition at 5.62m, clearing 5.82 and 6.00m before setting the new world record -- his eighth in the discipline.
American Sam Hendricks finished second with a best of 5.82m, China's Bokai Huang claiming third (5.72). - Agencies
