It was a stunning evening of athletics action in Poland as Sweden’s Armand ‘Mondo’ Duplantis and Norwegian Jakob Ingebrigtsen broke world records at the Silesia Diamond League meet on Sunday. While Duplantis surpassed his own men’s pole vault mark for the third time just in 2024, Ingebrigtsen bettered the long-standing 3,000 metres timing by more than three seconds.
Norwegian Ingebrigtsen clocked seven minutes 17.55 seconds, erasing the record set by Kenya’s Daniel Komen in 1996, when he ran 7:20.67 in Rieti, Italy. It was the longest-standing men’s athletics world record in individual track events.
For Duplantis though, it was a quick turnaround. Just under three weeks after he last broke his own world record, he cleared 6.26m, bettering the mark he set at the Stade de France to be crowned Olympic Champion. “I know I can jump higher, and I want to jump a lot higher,” Duplantis had told olympics.com. “I would like to jump over 6.30m.” And he is now inching ever closer to it.
Duplantis first broke the world record in men’s pole vault in February 2020, also incidentally in Poland, the same country where he registered his 10th world record just four and a half years later. It is also his fourth world record mark in the last 12 months, going back to Eugene (USA) at the 2023 season-finale.
“My first world record also came in Poland, indoors in Torun, so I have great memories from here,” Duplantis said. “It is just about being in good shape and believing you can do it. I always want to jump as high as I possibly can and to keep pushing. I have never hit a jump that felt absolutely perfect, so I always feel like I can do better.”
For Ingebrigtsen, it’s his second outdoor World Record, to add to his mark in the 2000m. His previous best time over 3000m came in September last year when he was nearly three seconds slower than Komen’s mark, but he was a man on a mission in Silesia.
The 23-year-old was in shock when he crossed the line and looked at his timing, putting his hands on his head in disbelief.
“It feels special, amazing. I was hoping to challenge the world record here, but based on my training, I can never predict exactly what kind of time I am capable of,” he said. “I would not have imagined I could run 7:17, though. At the beginning, the pace felt really fast, but then I started to feel my way into the race and found a good rhythm. (The) 3,000 is a tough distance. After four-five laps, you feel the lactic acid, but you need to get going. The conditions were difficult with the heat today, but it is the same for everyone.”
Three days ago, the Norwegian had exacted a small measure of revenge over American Cole Hocker by winning the 1,500m in Lausanne in 3:27.83, two weeks after Hocker shocked the Olympic field to win gold in Paris. He finished ahead of a trio of Ethiopians, with Paris Olympics 10,000m silver medallist Berihu Aregawi second in a personal best and the third-fastest time in history (7:21.28). Yomif Kejelcha was third.
“Now I want to challenge world records at all distances, but it is one step at a time,” Ingebrigtsen added.
(With Reuters inputs)
Mondo Duplantis’ world records:
6.26: Stadion Śląski, Chorzów (POL), 25 Aug 2024
6.25: Stade de France, Paris (FRA), 5 Aug 2024
6.24: Egret Stadium, Xiamen (CHN), 20 Apr 2024
6.23: Hayward Field, Eugene (USA), 17 Sep 2023
6.22 (i): Maison des Sports, Clermont-Ferrand (FRA), 25 Feb 2023
6.21: Hayward Field, Eugene (USA), 24 Jul 2022
6.20 (i): Štark Arena, Beograd (SRB), 20 Mar 2022
6.19 (i): Štark Arena, Beograd (SRB), 07 Mar 2022
6.18 (i): Emirates Arena, Glasgow (GBR), 15 Feb 2020
6.17 (i): Arena, Toruń (POL), 08 Feb 2020
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