Armand Duplantis: It will be one of the greatest memories for me in my career

Armand Duplantis set his 12th world record in the pole vault after winning the Diamond League in Stockholm, clearing 6.28m. He didn’t make a single mistake, much to the delight of his compatriots in the stands. Just a few days ago, Duplantis also won the Diamond League in Oslo with a leap of 6.15m, and at the time said that he had left his strength to attack the world record in Stockholm.

“I feel really overwhelmed right now. I have a lot of family here. I was still jumping with the same pole (5.20m, 11.7 flexibility) that I set the last few world records on. I’ve been jumping here a lot in the last few years and it’s not necessarily a place where I move well with the poles, I actually have trouble moving with the hard poles here. That was probably the lowest vault I’ve ever broken a world record with here today”, said Armand Duplantis after breaking the world record.

Armand Duplantis talked about the special atmosphere he felt in this stadium.

“The first time I jumped in this stadium was when I was 11 years old, it was rainy, cold and I jumped just under 4m. That was pretty high for how small I was. I’ve jumped a lot here and they have the names of the world record holders engraved here. The last one was a long time ago. My mother was in the stands when Patrick Sjoberg broke world record in 1986. I think there is a common denominator here, she is a good luck charm. It will be really special to have my name engraved on the stadium”, said also Armand Duplantis. “In my biased opinion, this is the most beautiful stadium. I think it will be one of the greatest memories for me in my career. I will continue to strive forward, as I always do. I will jump higher. I will just enjoy this, the moment at the moment. Technically there is not much difference between me and 6.30. It is only a few centimeters. I am only one perfect day away from it. As I go up, it becomes more and more difficult. I think technically, physically and everything else, I am right there. I will release a song in two weeks. It has nothing to do with setting a world record at the moment, it just happened”, said the excited Armand Duplantis.