Crushing his world record for the 10th time in his track and field career, Mondo Duplantis has truly set the bar high. After clearing 6.26m at the Silesia Diamond League, many have been waiting for him to do it yet again. However, he surprised fans by running a 100m event against Karsten Warholm. In fact, his stellar time of 10.37 seconds helped him defeat the Norwegian fair and square. Riding the wave of this victory, he even challenged Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone to a duel. 

But tonight, all the pole vaulter had eyes for was the Diamond League title. While he didn’t crush the world record, he did the next best thing. With his impressive leap of 6.11m, the 24-year-old had set a new meet record, claiming his fourth title in Brussels. After the adrenaline had worn off, the Olympian revealed what went through his mind in a post-race interview. “My legs feel terrible tonight, and I’m just really tired. It’s been a crazy couple of weeks; the race against Karsten, and then I had to jump the day after.” After a playful challenge turned into the most anticipated race leading up to the Zurich Diamond League. 

After beating his friend/foe in the 100m event, Warholm had to bear grave consequences. The pole vaulter handed the Norwegian a yellow and blue singlet. But Mondo Duplantis addressed the number one query on everyone’s mind in Brussels. “With 6.11m, I got a good result, but the world record wasn’t meant to be tonight. It’s not easy to do better each time. Everything needs to come together.” After setting a new record in Paris, he shattered it again at the Silesia Diamond League 2 weeks later. 

But how does he feel about claiming his fourth Diamond League title? “I had some good jumps tonight, and I’m really happy about that. Now it’s time to celebrate my beautiful season.” After drawing the curtains with his impressive win, he stated that a few Belgian beers are on his to-do list tonight. Emmanouil Karalis claimed the second place by clearing 5.82m. Even though Sam Kendricks and Ben Broeders did the same, they had to settle for the third place instead. While we’re not sure when he will lock horns with Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, let’s find out how this challenge came up in the first place.

Is Mondo Duplantis eyeing the track circuit again?

After crushing world records left, right, and center, the pole vaulter had playfully thrown a challenge Karsten Warholm’s way. “I’m not saying I’m going to kick your as-, but I’ll give you a run for your money,” and he effortlessly put his money where his mouth is. But now that he’s had a taste for track, he seems to have thrown yet another challenge. Only this time, it’s to a fellow world record holder, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone. 

Before the Brussels Diamond League, fans were buzzing with excitement at the thought of seeing the Olympian back on the track so soon after her Olympic glory. However, while she was off enjoying some well-deserved downtime, Mondo Duplantis was still soaking up the thrill of victory. He cheekily remarked, “I heard that Sydney got kicked out of Brussels, so if she wants to race, maybe at 400, we’ll do an extra event in Brussels, day before, day after or something.”

Adding fuel to the fire, Justin Gatlin and Rodney Green gave Duplantis a special shout-out on their “Ready Set Go” podcast. The American veteran chimed in, “Mondo called out Sydney before he could even cool down from his last 100 he just ran. He’s like ‘What’s up? I want this smoke in this 400. Come on out.'” So, with Duplantis throwing down the gauntlet, the big question is: will the challenge be accepted, or does it hang in the air for now?