World record-holder vaults 5.91m in first outdoor event of season
\nEUGENE
\nWorld record-holder Armand Duplantis made a smooth if unspectacular start to his outdoor season on Friday, winning the men\u2019s pole vault at the Eugene Diamond League with a vault of 5.91m.
\nThe US-born Swede \u2013 known as \u201cMondo\u201d \u2013 had victory in hand when he made three failed attempts at 6.07 and said that left a sour taste in his mouth.
\n\u201cI feel like when I go into any competition I want to get over six meters now,\u201d said Duplantis, who set two world records in two weeks at the World Indoor Championships in March, taking the new benchmark to 6.20m.
\nHe won at the Diamond League in Doha earlier this month, but that competition was moved indoors because of high winds, making Friday his first outdoor competition in a season where the World Championships will be held at the same venue in Eugene in July.
\nDuplantis said he was \u201cjust trying to get a feel for outdoors\u201d at the event, held at Hayward Field.
\nAmerican Chris Nilsen was second with a vault of 5.81, unable to match the 6.00 he set in South Dakota earlier this month. Norway\u2019s Sondre Guttormsen was third, also clearing 5.81.
\nFrance\u2019s Renaud Lavillenie, the 2012 Olympic champion who has a personal best of 6.16m, had a disappointing night, unable to clear 5.61m.
\n\u201cWinning was the most important thing, but … I\u2019m a little bitter about not hitting that 6.07 bar,\u201d Duplantis said. \u201cI felt good jumping … just barely nicked it off all three times.\u201d
\nThe pole vault had originally been scheduled for Saturday, but was moved, along with the women\u2019s discus and high jump, because of expected rain.
\nUkraine\u2019s Yaroslava Mahuchikh won the high jump with a world-leading 2.0m.
\nTokyo Olympic gold medallist Valarie Allman of the United States won the women\u2019s discus with a throw of 68.35m. Her Croatian rival Sandra Perkovic was second with a throw of 65.50m and Germany\u2019s Kristin Pudenz (62.58m) was third.
\nUntil the decision to hold the field events on Friday, the highlights of the night were expected to be world record attempts in both the men\u2019s and women\u2019s 5,000m \u2013 neither of which came to fruition.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
World record-holder vaults 5.91m in first outdoor event of season EUGENE World record-holder Armand Duplantis made a smooth if unspectacular start to his outdoor season on Friday, winning the men\u2019s pole vault at the Eugene Diamond League with a vault of 5.91m. The US-born Swede \u2013 known as \u201cMondo\u201d \u2013 had victory in hand when […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":263297,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[7880,7881],"class_list":{"0":"post-263283","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-duplantis","9":"tag-eugene-diamond-league"},"yoast_head":"\n