Olympic icon Mondo Duplantis failed to break his own world record at the final Diamond League meet of the year, but still made history.
The 24-year-old Swedish pole vaulter stunned the world at Paris 2024 by not only winning two gold medals but also breaking the world record for the ninth time.
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But he didn’t stop there and broke the mark again — by a centimeter — at a Diamond League meet in Chorzow, Poland, in August, reaching 6.26m.
And Duplantis took aim at him again in Brussels on Friday night.
However, his recent efforts — now that he has become one of the world’s most famous athletes — have prevented him from breaking that record for an 11th time.
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In Belgium, he won his fourth Diamond League trophy despite “feeling terrible” – jumping 6.11m, 15cm below his current best.
“My legs were terrible tonight and I’m really tired. It’s been a crazy couple of weeks,” he explained.
Duplantis’ fame meant he seized the opportunity to show off his speed on the track by taking on 400m hurdles world record holder Karsten Warholm in a 100m exhibition race following the Summer Olympics.
The Swede ran home firstsetting a personal best time of 10.37 seconds, whilst his friendly rival came in second, also with a PB of 10.47.
But that event nine days ago, before the Zurich Diamond League, left him exhausted.
He continued: “The race against Karsten and then I had to jump the next day. That took a lot more out of my body than I expected.
“With 6.11m I got a good result, but the world record wasn’t meant to be tonight. It’s not easy to do better each time. Everything has to fit together.”
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It may have been a disappointment, but Duplantis’ efforts were not in vain.
The 6.11 m was still a meeting record, beating his own by a centimeter.
Meanwhile, he was the only man to reach the 6m mark, with his Greek rival Emmanouil Karalis only managing 5.82m.
Furthermore, his victory ensured that he completed the entire season, across all competitions, undefeated.
Just like yours Olympics After winning, he took gold at the World Indoor Athletics Championships in Glasgow and won eight Diamond League events.
Now, however, he intends to enjoy the end of a brilliant year.
“Now it’s time to celebrate my beautiful season: I’ll definitely drink some good Belgian beers tonight.”