FRANCE
\nArmand Duplantis of Sweden set a new world pole vault record of 6.22 metres at an indoor meeting in France on Saturday, describing it as \u201calmost an out-of-body experience\u201d. Olympic champion Duplantis improved his own record of 6.21m that he set in winning the world title outdoors in Oregon last year. Competing at the All-Star Perche meeting in Clermont-Ferrand, central France organised by 2012 Olympic pole vault champion Renaud Lavillenie, Duplantis cleared the new record at his third attempt to the delight of the 4,000-strong crowd. Duplantis, 23, said: \u201cWhen you have moments like this, when the energy is so high, and you\u2019re going down there for the record, it feels like levitating, it feels like my body never even touched the ground the whole jump. \u201cThere\u2019s something about it that just feels overwhelming right now, and I really think it\u2019s because Renaud means so much to me, he\u2019s meant so much to me since I first started, he\u2019s been my biggest inspiration, biggest idol.
\n\u201cHe really motivated me, made me believe that I could break the world record. So for me to break the world record here, his hometown, his competition that he hosts…\u201d
\nUS-born Duplantis entered the competition at 5.71m, clearing that height at his first attempt.
\nHe passed at 5.81m and managed 5.91m on his second try before winning the competition by clearing 6.01m on his first attempt before having the bar raised to the record height.
\nIt was the sixth time that Duplantis has broken the world record.
\nHe set the first in Torun in February 2020, when he cleared 6.17m to add a centimetre to Lavillenie\u2019s previous world record of 6.16m that had stood since 2014.
\n\u201cEach world record feels like it brings something a bit different out of me,\u201d Duplantis said. \u201cMaybe the first one might have been a bit crazier, but this might be number two right now, it\u2019s really unbelievable.\u201d
\nHe said re-writing the record books no longer left him with any nerves.
\n\u201cThe pressure doesn\u2019t really feel the same anymore to me. I\u2019ve proved a lot the past few years, the past two years especially, and I know what kind of jumper I am, what I am capable of.
\n\u201cI know that I am deserving to be in the spot that I am.\u201d
\nDuplantis is giving the European Indoor Championships in Istanbul next month a miss so will focus on the outdoor season and winning back-to-back world outdoor titles in Budapest in August.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
FRANCE Armand Duplantis of Sweden set a new world pole vault record of 6.22 metres at an indoor meeting in France on Saturday, describing it as \u201calmost an out-of-body experience\u201d. Olympic champion Duplantis improved his own record of 6.21m that he set in winning the world title outdoors in Oregon last year. Competing at the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":316250,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-316238","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n