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Pole vault world record holder Mondo Duplantis shone once again at the Shanghai Diamond League and secured another title. However, the Swedish-American could face tough competition in the future from Sam Kendricks, who finished behind him.
Duplantis nearly broke the world record in Shanghai while attempting a jump of 6.25m. He jumped way over the bar in his third attempt but clipped it while going down. The 24-year-old had set the world record of 6.24m a week ago in Xiamen and hoped to break it again.
Mondo Duplantis won the event in Shanghai with a jump of 6.00m. Belgium’s Ben Broeders and America’s Sam Kendricks tied for 2nd place with a jump of 5.82m. Kendricks competed in Shanghai for the first time since 2018, and this was his first event of the 2024 outdoor season.
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Speaking to reporters after the meet, Kendricks, a former world champion, claimed that he had been excited to compete at the Shanghai Diamond League.
"I was really excited to be back at this meet for the first time since 2018. It has always been a pleasure to kick off the season in China," he said.
Sam Kendricks further expressed that he, along with the other competitors, knew they were behind Mondo Duplantis. However, he aims to improve his performance to challenge the world record holder.
"Tonight we knew we were some way behind Mondo (Duplantis) but definitely in the future I will be aiming to challenge Mondo and improve my performance," Sam Kendricks added.
The 31-year-old has a personal best of 6.06m in the discipline. If he does improve it, Kendricks will be a tough competitor to Duplantis at the Paris Olympics 2024.
Mondo Duplantis delighted on successful Diamond League tour in China
In only his first outdoor meet of the season, Mondo Duplantis broke his own pole vault record at the Xiamen Diamond League. He jumped a stellar 6.24m to win the first Diamond League meet of the season.
On April 27 in Shanghai, Duplantis attempted to break that mark thrice but narrowly missed out. Nevertheless, the 24-year-old expressed that he was happy with his performance and called the trip to China a ‘successful’ one.
"I felt great today, really good. To jump six meters today and complete a very successful tour, I have a lot of good takeaways," Duplantis told reporters in Shanghai.
On his attempts to break the world record, Mondo Duplantis claimed that he needed perfect conditions to break last week's mark but wasn't ‘feeling’ it on the runway tonight.
"I felt a little bit flat today, but still really good. I just feel that conditions have to be perfect for me to jump a world record and I wasn't quite feeling it off the runway tonight."
