Mondo Duplantis has redefined pole vault by raising his own world record on 10 different occasions.
But with the creation of new track-only events such as Michael Johnson’s Grand Slam threatening to leave field programmes in the shadows, the Swedish superstar sees no reason to fear an existential crisis.
Neither does Duplantis waste much energy thinking about how high he can eventually go in an event where he is so much better than his rivals that he is effectively competing against himself.
He heads to this week’s World Indoors in Nanjing, China fresh from successfully ascending 6.27m last month. And almost two years on since the last time he did not win a competition, Duplantis says of his record pursuit: “Really, I think about it less than you’d imagine.
“I know I have a higher height in me but the natural progression and where everything is going right now it takes a little bit of time and by fairly small increments.
“It gets a little more difficult every time. I try to improve it every time going forward. I don’t think about it all that much.
“I know I’m super close to 6.30m, I’d like to get over 6.30m in the future and keep pushing it from there. But I’m not crazy fixated on any number.”
Despite his dominance Duplantis diplomatically says the level of competition is “the highest it’s ever been but I just happen to be jumping really high.”
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And he is also urging his rivals and the stars of other jumps and throws to double down in promoting their own specialities.
With the much-hyped Grand Slam kicking off in three weeks time, Duplantis says: “I’m a bit indifferent about it. They’re trying something new, whether it works or not it will be super interesting to follow.
“But I take more responsibility in what I can control. That’s what I’ll try to push. It’s a good thing for the other field eventers to try and get it to stand on its own legs and showcase their events.
“The most important thing right now is to have fun, creative and entertaining ways to display our event as best we can.”
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