Mondo Duplantis sets new world record in pole vault at Xiamen Diamond League 2024

Swede added 1 cm to his previous world record of 6.23m.

Mondo Duplantis got the 2024 Wanda Diamond League season off to a stunning start in Xiamen Diamond League 2024 on Saturday (20), elevating his world pole vault record to a new high of 6.24m*.

Sweden’s 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.

“This is my first time in China and it’s exciting to get my season going,” 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 he opened his outdoor season with a six-metre clearance – 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 – 6.17m – was set in Torun in 2020.

In other events, there were some upsets and some expected results:

Australian teen phenom Torrie Lewis made a stunning debut, beating a stacked field including Sha’Carri Richardson to win the women’s 200m in 22.96 seconds from the outside lane.

Richardson took silver in 22.99, while Dominican Marileidy Paulino captured the 400m title in 50.08. Puerto Rico’s Olympic champion Jasmine Camacho-Quinn dominated the 100m hurdles in 12.45.

In the men’s 100m, Christian Coleman began his title defense by narrowly outleaning fellow American Fred Kerley, 10.13 to 10.17. Sam Hendricks of the U.S. grabbed silver in the pole vault at 5.82m.

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But the evening’s headliner was Ethiopia’s Gudaf Tsegay, who blazed to a 3:50.30 victory in the 1500m – the third-fastest time in history behind only Faith Kipyegon’s world record and Genzebe Dibaba’s former mark.

The Diamond League now heads to Suzhou, China next weekend. The 15-meet circuit serves as a key tune-up for the Paris Olympics from July 26-August 11, with the grand finale set for September 13-14 in Brussels.

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