Budapest: It seems that only the soaring bar could stop Armand Duplantis but the pole vault star and world record holder said here that he didn’t want to set limits on himself.
In a sizzling National Athletics Center in Budapest, Olympic champion Duplantis took the limelight of the evening. The 23-year-old Swede cleared the heights six times all with only one attempt, retaining his world title in 6.10m, reports Xinhua.
“Being the defending champion was different,” said Duplantis who won his first world champion title last year with an astonishing result of 6.21m. “I felt a bit of pressure as defending champion but I’m glad to come through it. It feels pretty good to be on top again.”
He did try to improve his own world record of 6.22m which he set earlier this year by 1cm, but missed it after three jumps.
“I try not to set limits and barriers on myself, and once I started to realize a world record was possible, I tried not to see it as a record just as another height I can achieve,” said Duplantis. “But today I never really felt like a world record competition. It was more a pure competition and that’s how it can be. It was great fun. I’d spend a lot of energy by the time it got up to 6.23m. But sometimes you’ve just got to compete.”
Duplantis has been keep winning for four years with only one loss on record. He credited his consistency to his team. “I have a really good team around. Pole vault is quite technical, all the time you need to make the right decision.”
–IANS