Despite Being Born in America, Why Did Mondo Duplantis Compete From Sweden?

At the Tokyo Olympics, many were surprised to see Armand ‘Mondo’ Duplantis wear Sweden’s yellow and blue. Wasn’t he American and born in Lafayette, Louisiana? Well, that is just half the truth. His father, Greg Duplantis, is an American. But his mother, Helena, is Swedish. This is one reason the athlete chose to represent Sweden. However, the larger reason behind this decision was Duplantis’s father. Why did he want his son to represent Sweden?

Well, in September 2021, ‘Olympics’ interviewed Jonas Anshelm- Sweden’s Olympic youth coach, who was responsible for convincing Armand Duplantis and his father to represent Sweden. In the interview with Olympics on YouTube, Anshelm stated, “I went via Facebook, contacting Andreas (Armand’s older brother), asking for the phone number to Greg, Mondo and Andreas’s father, saying that ‘I would like to have Mondo in the Swedish team.’ At that time, it was a ‘no’.”

What’s interesting is Andreas Duplantis was already part of the Swedish national pole vault team. However, Anshelm knew what to do to get a ‘yes’ from Greg.

“He wanted to represent the US. As a Swede and a bit stubborn, maybe stupid, I thought, ‘Well, I might give him another call.’ What I did mention was that I was very happy if Greg would like to be in the national team as a coach. A couple of weeks later, Greg called me up and said, We are on. We’ll go for Sweden,” Jonas Anshelm shared. And the rest is history!

But this isn’t the end. There were more reasons he chose to represent Sweden.

What is Armand Duplantis’s nationality?

Mondo Duplantis has dual citizenship in both Sweden and the United States. He can represent both the US and Sweden in competitions. Even though he grew up in an English-speaking household, he has gained expertise in Swedish. Now, during interviews, he can comfortably converse in both languages.

Further, it was easier for the athlete to represent Sweden because the country allowed him to compete in pole vaulting at a younger age and had fewer restrictions as compared to the US. One such thing was that Sweden allowed Greg, a former pole vaulter, and Armand’s father to coach him, which is not allowed in Team USA.

Then, the USA also looks only at Olympic trials for qualification, whereas Sweden looks at overall records and across the competitive season.

The reigning world outdoor and indoor record holder in the sport of pole vaulting has cemented his legacy by achieving heights of 6.23 meters and 6.22 meters, respectively. He has accumulated various Swedish awards. These include the Jerring Award as Sweden’s most popular athlete in 2020. Along with this, the Swedish Athletics Federation also awarded him with the Athlete of the Year award.

But what does this mean for his American roots? Though he doesn’t represent the USA, he once stated that he felt a strong bond with Lafayette.

Regardless, he isn’t the only athlete who has had to make a decision choosing between two or three countries. There have been other athletes who have done the same. In fact, the situation is so common that the Olympic Charter has a bylaw to Rule 41 for this. It states that athletes who possess dual citizenship can choose the country they wish to represent. Additionally, athletes who gained a new citizenship or changed it can do so if three years have passed since they competed for their previous country.