Mondo Duplantis got the 2024 Wanda Diamond League season off to a stunning start in Xiamen on Saturday (20), elevating his world pole vault record to a new high of 6.24m*.
Swedenâs 24-year-old Olympic and world champion sailed over the bar at the first attempt, adding 1cm to the world record he last revised during the 2023 Wanda Diamond League final in Eugene last September.
âThis is my first time in China and itâs exciting to get my season going,â said Duplantis, who retained his world indoor title in Glasgow last month with a 6.10m clearance.
The two-time world outdoor champion still has more than three months to go before he defends his Olympic title in Paris. Just once before has he opened his outdoor season with a six metre clearance â a 6.02m success at the Doha Diamond League meeting in 2022.
This latest performance is the eighth world record of his career so far. His first â 6.17m â was set in Torun in 2020.
*Subject to the usual ratification procedure
