How high is too high? For Armand “Mondo” Duplantis, the answer doesn’t exist. The Swedish pole vault sensation recently shattered his own world record yet again. 6.27 meters. His 11th world record. Another leap into history! Duplantis needed just one attempt at the All-Star Perche meet in Clermont-Ferrand, France, as he sprinted, planted, and soared past 6.27m. The crowd erupted, fireworks ignited, and yet another record was rewritten. It’s what he does, set the bar, then clear it!

He has been doing it since 2020; each time he has broken the world record, he has done so by just one centimeter. Four of those record-breaking jumps have come in the last year or so alone, including when he won his second Olympic gold in Paris with a 6.25m clearance.

Just 24 years old, and yet already owns two Olympic golds, two world indoor titles, and two outdoor world championships! His dominance is unquestioned; his only real competition is himself! But records don’t happen in isolation. Behind every vault, every title, every historic moment, there’s a foundation. Someone shaped his technique, pushed his limits, and set him on this path! Duplantis has the talent, but his journey didn’t start alone. Who built the foundation for the world’s greatest pole vaulter? The answer lies in his roots!

Who is Armand Duplantis’s Father?

In a simple backyard in Lafayette, Louisiana, a four-year-old boy held up a broomstick and looked at the sky. His dad watched him, seeing something he knew well, the boy’s desire to defy gravity and fly. “He just took to it, he would jump in the house all the time with a broomstick,” recalls Greg Duplantis to Acadiana’s NEWSCHANNEL. “I knew he loved it and was going to work hard at it.”

Greg knows the physics of flight better than most. A four-time U.S. Olympic Trials qualifier with a personal best of 5.80 meters (19 feet 1⁄2 inch), achieved in Århus, Denmark in 1993, he’s intimately familiar with the delicate dance between technicality and raw courage. Born January 22, 1962, in Louisiana, Greg’s own journey began at Lafayette High School before soaring through LSU, where he became a four-time letter winner while earning both undergraduate and law degrees.

His competitive fire carried him through a professional career that most only dream of. Perhaps, however, his greatest achievement is not measured in heights cleared, but in the knowledge he transferred. That backyard became a laboratory where father and son rewrote the possibilities of human flight. That little boy with the broomstick? Now known as “Mondo,” he’s shattered world records while making the impossible look like routine.

Greg’s coaching extends beyond family, he’s guided multiple NCAA All-Americans, including two-time NCAA champion Lisa Gunnarsson. Yet he somehow balances this athletic passion with a successful career as an oil and gas attorney.

Who is Armand Duplantis’ Mother?

Athletics has been in Mondo’s DNA! If his father was a former pole vaulter, her mother is an Athlete in her own right! And who is she? Meet Helena Duplantis, the Swedish-born athlete who traded her heptathlon career for motherhood and coaching greatness! Helena was born in Avesta, Sweden, on March 27, 1965, where she grew up surrounded by sports. Her father, Lars-Åke Hedlund, was a national-standard pole vaulter who ran the local athletics club!

By 18, Helena was scoring 5,314 points in heptathlon competitions and jumping 11.91 meters in triple jump! What happened when she turned 20? She moved to LSU, where she excelled in both volleyball and track and met Greg Duplantis! Their 1987 marriage produced four athletic children – but who knew their third child would rewrite pole vault history?!

“He got his long legs from his mom and some of his calmness from his mom,” Greg reveals about Armand “Mondo” Duplantis genetic advantages! “He got some speed aggression and pole vault skills from me!”

Did you know Mondo’s iconic nickname came from a family friend who called him “Mondo man” because “Mondo is the world in Italian”?!

What is Armand “Mondo” Duplantis’ Parents nationality?

Greg Duplantis, is American, while his mother, Helena Duplantis, is Swedish national. On August 1, 1987, they married and settled in Louisiana, USA, where they raised their four children—all athletes.

• Andreas and Johanna – Pole vaulters.
• Antoine – A baseball player.
• Mondo – A world record-breaking pole vaulter.