Athletics - Diamond League - Silesia - Silesian Stadium, Chorzow, Poland - August 25, 2024 Sweden's Armand Duplantis breaks the world record by clearing 6.26m during the men's pole vault REUTERS/Aleksandra Szmigiel
(Reuters) -Sweden's Mondo Duplantis broke his own pole vault world record when he cleared 6.26 metres at the second attempt at the Silesia Diamond League meeting on Sunday.
Duplantis broke the world record for the 10th time, beating the 6.25 metres he cleared after retaining his Olympic gold medal in Paris earlier this month.
In Poland, he raised the bar to 6.26, having already clinched victory at 6.00 metres.
The 24-year-old had brought the Stade de France crowd to their feet at the Paris Olympics when he broke the world record for a ninth time, and there was always the feeling that Duplantis was not done yet.
"This year I focused on the Olympics, the record just came naturally because I was in good shape," Duplantis said.
"So I am not surprised with the record today but I am thankful."
On Wednesday, Duplantis cleared 6.15 to win in Lausanne but at the Silesia Stadium in Chorzow he had the bar raised to the world-record height and the Polish crowd waited with bated breath.
His first effort was a poor one, perhaps lowering expectations, but then the Swede soared over to huge cheers from the spectators before racing to the track and falling to the ground.
"It almost feels weird and unnatural to get so much love and support from the crowds when I compete. I see that especially in Poland," Duplantis said.
"The energy in this stadium just keeps getting better every year. My first world record also came in Poland, indoors in Torun (in 2020), so I have great memories from here."
Olympic silver medallist Sam Kendricks of the United States cleared 6.00 before failing at 6.08 to take second, with Paris bronze-medal winner Emmanouil Karalis of Greece finishing third, also clearing six metres.
The crowd had already witnessed Norwegian Jakob Ingebrigtsen shatter the long-standing 3,000 metres world record with a time of seven minutes 17.55 seconds to beat the record set by Kenya's Daniel Komen in 1996 when he ran 7:20.67.
(Reporting by Trevor Stynes, Editing by Louise Heavens and Clare Fallon)
