How high can Armand Duplantis fly? Since February 4, 2020, this question has kept the track and field world riveted. On that day, the Swedish athlete, popularly known as Mondo, decimated Renaud Lavillenie’s pole vault world record. Since then, he has changed it at his will—a whopping seven times in just four years. That consistency ultimately makes him the favorite to grab the pole vault gold at the Paris Olympics.

But here are a few details about him, Mondo Duplantis, that make him more human, apart from being the all-season GOAT. Born on November 10, 1999, he is 24 years of age right now. Furthermore, according to the NBC Olympics, Mondo is 5’11”. But that physical height may not have contributed to the LSU alum’s capability of pole vaulting. 

In his record-breaking turn in 2020, Mondo covered 6.17 meters. Now standing at the mid-2024, his personal best touches 6.24m, the fresh world record set by him in the Xiamen Diamond League on April 20. And he is yet not satisfied! 

Pole vaulting over 6.24m could be felt like a mountainous job for someone like Mondo Duplantis. The reason is his weight. The 24-year-old can easily defy gravity when wielding the trusty pole and his body weight is of 79 kg, heavier than his predecessor Renaud Lavillenie. Even today in the preliminary round, he dropped the height of 5.75m, without breaking a sweat. Yet, everyone could sense the determination of Mondo Duplantis as he eyes to clear an even greater height. 

He ironically wants to raise the bar to 6.30m. In February this year, he cleared the air on this, claiming, “I want to jump 6.30 meters. It’s a new bar I can clear.” The job is daunting, undoubtedly. Even the history of athletics may add several logical components to claim the job is impossible. But for the Tokyo Olympic champion, anything is possible. 

Mondo Duplantis wants to change the pace of history 

Pole vaulting over a great height isn’t commonplace in the field. Human ability faces the most serious questions in this sport. As a result, it took almost 50 years to cover the height from 4.50m to 6m. Now, Mondo Duplantis added 0.17 meters to that in 2020. Surprisingly, in the next four years, he extended it by another 0.07 meters. And his next plan is to take it up a notch, to an extra 0.06 meters. So Mondo wants to change the pace of the sport, as his ability to inflict the change is bizarre. But there’s something more bizarre. 

Mondo’s competitor, Thibaut Collet, claimed that the athlete’s father had a bigger dream. In one of his conversations, the Frenchman said, “His father talked about him jumping 6.40 meters one day. I won’t comment on that performance, which seems unimaginable to us.” And all these responsibilities hinge on an athlete who is just 24 years old! Seriously, even the sky isn’t his limit at this point.