World Championships: Armand Duplantis vaults to glory

EUGENE (usa), July 25

Armand Duplantis brought down the curtain on the World Championships in stunning fashion on Sunday, breaking his own pole vault world record in the final act of the 10-day track and field meet in Eugene.

After the United States claimed emphatic victories in both the men’s and women’s 4×400 metres relays, Duplantis took centrestage and duly delivered a perfect finale for the first championships on American soil.

The Swede sailed over 6.21m to surpass his previous mark by one centimetre — set in March en route winning gold at the World Indoor Championships — and complete his collection of medals by claiming a first Worlds title.

“It’s great; I cannot complain,” Duplantis said. “Actually, I did not think about the record that much today …. I really wanted to win the gold so badly. It was the medal I was missing. So when I was on this height, it was like everything came together and it happened from there.”

American Chris Nilsen took silver with 5.94m on countback from Ernest John Obiena, whose bronze was the first-ever Worlds medal for the Philippines.

Unheralded Nigerian Tobi Amusan had earlier stolen the show in the women’s 100m hurdles, rocketing to a new world record of 12.12 seconds in the semifinals.

She then won the gold in what was initially announced as a world record 12.06, although excessive wind speeds meant her time was ruled out.

American Athing Mu held off British rival Keeley Hodgkinson to add the world 800m title to her Olympics crown while Germany’s Malaika Mihambo, also a gold medallist in Tokyo, retained her long jump title.

Jakob Ingebrigtsen of Norway made up for this runner-up finish in the 1,500m with a victory in the 5,000m, French world record holder Kevin Mayer regained the decathlon title. — Reuters