Mondo loves Mondo

Picture:@World Athletics

As the traditional end-of-year athletics awards ceremonies draw nearer, pole vault virtuoso Mondo Duplantis is the hot favourite to be take the honours when the accolades are handed out by both European Athletics and World Athletics.

The Swedish superstar finished his 2024 competitive campaign unbeaten in 15 competitions, indoors and out.

During the summer, Duplantis set three world records and all of them were on Mondo athletics tracks.

• 6.24m in the Xiamen Diamond League meeting on 28 April, stunning his many Chinese fans in his first outdoor competition of the summer.
• 6.25m at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 on 5 August, the first time a men’s pole vault world record had been set in the world most important athletics competition since 1980.
• 6.26m at the Chorzow Diamond League on 25 August, the 10^th world record of his already illustrious career even though Duplantis doesn’t turn 25 until November.

Other notable feats by Duplantis during the year included:

• Retaining his World Athletics Indoor Championships title in Glasgow in March.
• Winning his third consecutive European Athletics Championships gold medal in the Italian capital Rome in June.
• Acquiring his fourth successive Diamond League crown at the Memorial Van Damme meeting in Brussels last month.

Like with all three of his world records in 2024, this trio of triumphs were also achieved on Mondo athletics tracks and Duplantis has often paid tribute to the sport surface for athletics on which he has excelled.

During his unbeaten year, no less than nine of his outings were on Mondo tracks.

Adding to the superlatives, Duplantis took his career tally to an unprecedented 91 six-metre vaults, with 12 of his 17 successful clearances at that height in 2024 coming on Mondo tracks.

It’s beyond dispute that Mondo Duplantis – arguably the most recognisable and internationally known athlete of his generation – thrives on athletics tracks manufactured by his Italian namesake.