CHORZOW, Poland (AFP) — Record-breaking Armand “Mondo” Duplantis has predicted a “super-sick” World Championships in Tokyo, where he won his first Olympic medal in the Covid-delayed Summer Games, but insisted statistics were unimportant to him.
The United States-born Swede has been in electric form, setting a 13th world record, of 6.29 meters, in Budapest on Tuesday to further seal his claim as one of the best track and field athletes in history.
But Duplantis shies away from the bravado often shown by sprinters, reiterating that he is not bothered by the numbers game.
“I’m just making sure that all the little details and everything are very polished and that I’m really ready to go at the most important time,” Duplantis said Thursday ahead of the Diamond League meet in Silesia, Poland.
“It’s a lot of recognition,” he conceded of setting multiple world records.
“It’s always an amazing feeling and I’m always super grateful, and it feels kind of surreal in a way every time I’ve been able to push the record a little bit higher.”
A return to Tokyo’s Olympic Stadium for the 13 to 21 September world champs, with a full crowd compared to the empty tribunes in 2021 because of the pandemic, left Duplantis “super excited.”
“I have super high expectations,” he said.
“It’s going to super sick, honestly.”
“I think the atmosphere is going to be insane. Then it’s just up to me to enjoy it and channel what everybody’s giving me and try to put on a good show.”
But the 25-year-old, who has used the same pole to set the last 10 world records, again played down expectations of how high he thought the bar might be raised to.
“I just love competing,” he said.
“It doesn’t matter how many world records that I break.”
“When it comes to sports in general, you always have to prove yourself on the day because nobody just gives you anything, it’s all earned.”
“They don’t just give me the trophy because I’m the favorite. I still have to go out there and have to compete. I have to be on my A game, and I have to earn my title as the one that’s going to be the best and last man standing on that day every time.”
As for the 6.30m mark and beyond, Duplantis added: “I don’t want to lie and make something up and act like there’s some special magic number that I’m aiming for that’s always in the back of my mind when it’s really not the case, because I’m really not very super fixated on anything in particular.”
“I feel like I’m very much somebody that lives in the present moment and I try to maximise and achieve the most that I can in the now.”