Armand Gustav Duplantis popularly known as ‘Mondo’ is a renowned American-born Swedish pole vaulter. Just a few athletes are as dominant in their specialities as Duplantis. Since his burst into the scene at just age15, he has broken almost every age-group record on his way to the top.
He is the current world indoor and outdoor record holder, two-time indoor and two-time outdoor champion. Mondo is also the current Olympic, Diamond League and European champion. In February 2023, he had made history having cleared six meters or higher 60 times, the most by any pole vaulter.
Mondo is both the 2018 European and World Athletics Male Rising Star of the Year. The Swedish sensation is the 2020 World Male Athlete of the Year and also the 2022 European and World Male Athlete of the Year. He was as well the 2023 World Athlete of the Year (Men’s Field).
Age and Birthday
Armand was born in Lafayette, Louisiana in the United States on 10 November 1999. He is 24 years old as of 2024.
Height
Mondo is 181 cm (5 feet 11 inches) tall.
Armand Duplantis Family
The pole vault champion comes from sports gifted family. He was born to an American father, Greg Duplantis who is a former pole vaulter and a Swede mother, Helena who is a former volleyballer and heptathlete.
The family has four siblings Andreas, Antoine, Armand and Johanna who have all exhibited great prowess in sports. Andreas and Johanna are pole vaulters like Armand while Antoine is a baseball player.
Armand Duplantis Career
Armand first tried pole vault at his family home while he was just three and quickly developed a passion for it. At seven years of age, he set his maiden age group world best record of 3.86 meters. At ten, he broke the previous world bests for 11 and 12 ages.
2015-2016: World Youth championship gold medal and world indoor youth best record
In 2015, Mondo’s Lafayette High School freshman year, he set national freshman indoor and outdoor records. He was also voted the Gatorade Louisiana Boys Track and Field Athlete of the Year. Given his duo-citizenship, Duplantis was eligible to represent Sweden and the United States internationally. In June 2015, he said that he preferred Sweden. He donned the Swedish colours for the first time in the 2015 World Youth Championships in Columbia. With his first attempt, Mondo cleared 5.30 m to take gold and set a new championship record besides improving his personal best by two centimeters.
On 6 February 2016, at a high school competition, Mondo cleared 5.49 m. He consequently set a new age 16 world best, national high school indoor record as well as world indoor youth best. He was the first high school athlete to clear 18 feet (5.49 m).
2017-2018: World indoor junior record and fifth-best in history
Mondo cleared 5.75m on 11 February 2017 during the Millrose Games to set a world indoor junior record. On 1 April 2017, he raised the bar to 5.90 m at the Nike Clyde Littlefield Texas. Besides improving his personal best with the jump, he set a new World Junior record. The jump also beat the Swedish senior record by 3 centimeters and was recognized as the American junior record.
The 2018 season kicked-off with Armand battening the world indoor junior record to 5.83 m at the Pole Vault Summit in Nevada. He later enhanced it to 5.88 m and 6.05 m at the 2018 European Athletics Championships. This record ranked him a joint second-best outdoors and fifth-best pole vaulter in history.
2019-2020: World Championship silver and First world record
At the 2019 IAAF World Championships in Doha, Mondo came second to take silver medal after clearing 5.97 m on his third attempt.
In the 2020 season first competition on 4 February, he cleared 6.00 m indoors on his first attempt before raising it to 6.17 m on third effort to set a new world record. Four days later, in Turin, Poland, he broke a close to six years world record after jumping 6.17 m before raising it to 6.18 m a week later in Glasgow. On 17 September at the Diamond League meet in Rome, Duplantis made a 6.15 m second-attempt clearance to set a new outdoor world best. He completed the season by being awarded the Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal on 1 December in recognition for his achievements.
2021-2022: Olympic medal, World records, world titles and European titles
At the 2021 European indoor Championships, Duplantis won gold medal and set a new championship best after jumping 6.05 m. He won another gold medal at the delayed 2020 Summer Olympics clearing 6.02 m on first attempt.
At Belgrade indoor competitions on 7 March 2022, Mondo beat his own record to set a new one at 6.19 m. He won gold medal and broke the world record yet again a fortnight later at the 2022 Worlds Athletics Indoor Championships in Belgrade. This is after clearing 6.20 m. He improved his outdoor world best from previously at 6.15 m to 6.16 m on 30 June at the BAUHAUS-galan.
At the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Armand enhanced his own world record once more by clearing 6.21 m. During the 2022 European Championships in Munich, he won gold medal and set a championship record after jumping 6.06 m. He consummated the season by successfully defending his Diamond Trophy by jumping 6.07 m at Zurich.
2023- present: More world records and gold medals
Armand kicked-off his 2023 season on a high at the Mondo Classic (a competition named after his nickname) in Uppsala. He won by clearing 6.10 m, a record highest season opening performance in pole vault history. At the All Star Perche indoor in France on 25 February Mondo broke the world record once more after jumping 6.22 m taking his career six-meter plus jumps to 60. He cleared 6.23 m on 17 September at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene.
In March 2024, at the 2024 World Athletics Indoor Championships in Glasgow Mondo won gold medal after clearing 6.05 m.
Armand Duplantis Achievements And Awards
Achievements
Highest world ranking: First, 2023
Personal bests: 6.24 m, World record (Xiamen 2024)
Awards
- Gatorade Louisiana Boys Track and Field Athlete of the Year: 2015
- European Athletics Rising Star of the Year (Men): 2018
- World Athletics Rising Star of the Year (Men): 2018
- Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal: 2020
- European Athlete of the Year (Men): 2022
- World Athlete of the Year (Men): 2020, 2022
- World Athlete of the Year (Men’s Field): 2023
Armand Duplantis Net Worth
Duplantis has an estimated net worth of $7 million as of 2024.