Mondo Duplantis, the 'Mozart of the Pole Vault': Ready to conquer new skies.

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February 8, 2020. Inside the arena in Torun, the Polish city where astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus was born – Avicii's Levels resonated with vibrant energy.

Armand “Mondo” Duplantis , then less than 20 years old, was preparing to astound the world with a “Copernican revolution” in pole vaulting ("The Copernican revolution" refers to the shift in thinking from geocentric [Earth-centered] to heliocentric [Sun-centered] theory initiated by Copernicus – the foundation of modern astronomy).

An extremely fast athlete, of fairly average build, not possessing the "giant" physique of Sergey Bubka (Soviet Union/Ukraine) – the symbol of muscle and power who once dominated this event (the first to conquer the 6m bar) – but always smiling, raised the world record to 6.17m.

A month later, as the Swedish boy broke the record for the second time, the whole world went into lockdown due to the pandemic.

This weekend, on Saturday at 6:25 PM (0:25 AM Sunday, March 22nd, Hanoi time), Duplantis returns to Torun, not only to seek a new record but also to aim for his 7th world title and 4th indoor title.

Six years after his first visit, he raised the world record to 6.31m. Before the competition, he reminisced about his 2020 experience.

"Torun is a very special place to me because it's where I set my first world record , " Duplantis shared , "I broke many more records after that, but the first one was a life-changing moment."

"Overnight, I went from being an ordinary person to a world record holder – something I'd dreamed of since I was 3 years old."

He added that he chose Levels as the background music because it was also the song Renaud Lavillenie used when he broke Bubka's world record (6.16m) six years ago.

“I don’t know what it feels like to break a world record; I just know I’m in great form and extremely confident. I’ve always felt I have no psychological barriers to what I want to do, even though sometimes I can’t quite articulate it.”

Change to soar high

Duplantis remembers the help he received from Canadian athlete Shawn Barber – the 2015 world champion.

“After my first jump, he gave me a little piece of advice: I should raise my grip a bit. I believed him, and I did it,” Duplantis said, emotionally recalling Barber’s death shortly afterward at the age of 30.

Then the pandemic hit. “It was a very uncertain period. Looking back now, it feels unreal. Everything was chaotic,” he recalled. “But it made us appreciate even more the things we used to take for granted: competing in front of an audience, socializing, connecting.”

Without spectators, even winning an Olympic gold medal wouldn't be complete. Sport is about bringing people together, and that was taken away during that period.”

Two weeks ago, in Uppsala (Sweden), "Feeling Myself"—a song written by Duplantis himself—sounded before he broke the world record for the 15th time, raising the bar to 6.31m.

“Levels is the 'anthem' of records. My song, on the other hand, brings a joyful, childlike feeling. When I listen to my music while competing, I feel like I'm dancing in my backyard, enjoying everything,” he confided.

Duplantis believes he has entered a "new phase," a real turning point in his career: changing his running momentum with two extra steps (22 steps instead of 20), increasing his speed (over 10.5 m/s), generating more energy to bend the stiffer pole, and thus receiving more springback.

“I’ve been using the same pole since I jumped 6.20m. I tried a stiffer one but couldn’t bend it. I lacked energy in the take-off. But at Uppsala, I finally did it after four years of trying,” he explained.

“Many people are improving very quickly, so I want to make sure I maintain my number one ranking,” he said about his motivation. This weekend in Torun, perhaps for the first time since 2018 – when he cleared 6m and won the European Championships – Duplantis will be competing not only on the parallel bars… but against real competitors.

Mondo Duplantis broke the world record 15 times:

Time	beam level	Time	Event / Location	Note
1	6.17m	February 8, 2020	Torun, Poland	He officially surpassed Renaud Lavillenie's record of 6.16m.
2	6.18m	February 15, 2020	Glasgow, Scotland	Breaking the record in just one week.
3	6.19m	March 7, 2022	Belgrade, Serbia	Returning to record-breaking form after two years.
4	6.20m	March 20, 2022	Belgrade, Serbia	Indoor World Champion.
5	6.21m	July 24, 2022	Eugene, USA	World Outdoor Champion.
6	6.22m	February 25, 2023	Clermont-Ferrand, France	At the All-Star Perche tournament.
7	6.23m	September 17, 2023	Eugene, USA	Diamond League Finals.
8	6.24m	April 20, 2024	Xiamen, China	Opening the 2024 outdoor season.
9	6.25m	August 5, 2024	Paris, France	He won the gold medal at the Paris Olympics.
10	6.26m	August 25, 2024	Chorzow, Poland	Diamond League Silesia.
11	6.27m	February 28, 2025	Clermont-Ferrand, France	The first record of 2025.
12	6.28m	June 15, 2025	Stockholm, Sweden	Breaking the record for the first time at home.
13	6.29m	August 12, 2025	Budapest, Hungary	Diamond League.
14	6.30m	September 15, 2025	Tokyo, Japan	World Champion 2025.
15	6.31m	12/03/2026	Uppsala, Sweden	At the Mondo Classic .