Duplantis Clears 6.20m for First Ultimate Title

Armand Duplantis cleared 6.20m to win the men’s pole vault at the first World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest. The Swede became the event’s first-ever Ultimate champion.

A perfect card on a chilly Budapest evening

Duplantis opened at 5.60m and cleared it first time. He then passed 5.80m and cleared 5.95m, 6.05m and 6.15m, each on his first attempt. It made a perfect scorecard on a cold night at the Gyula Zsivotzky National Athletics Centre.

Greece’s Emmanouil Karalis kept the pressure on, clearing 6.15m to finish second ahead of Norway’s Sondre Guttormsen (5.95m). With the title secured, Duplantis skipped to 6.32m for a world record. Sergey Bubka wished him luck during a crowd interview, but the bar would not stay up, leaving him short of a 16th record.

Another crown for a decorated collection

Budapest is where Duplantis won the second of his world titles and set the 13th of his world records, so the return felt fitting. The win joins two Olympic golds, three world titles and four world indoor victories. He had arrived carrying a leg concern after withdrawing from the Brussels Diamond League final as a precaution.

It was his first outing since that setback, and it came only months after he raised his own world record to 6.31m in Uppsala in March. The new championship gathers the world’s top-ranked athletes for head-to-head contests, and he entered as the clear favourite.

“It was amazing. I really like competing in Budapest,” Duplantis told reporters afterwards. “The whole show was spectacular.”

The record can wait. For now, a new title stands beside the old ones, and the story of the sport’s most consistent vaulter goes on.