Tokyo [Japan], September 15 : The third day of the ongoing World Athletics Championships was memorable as Armand 'Mondo' Duplantis broke his own pole vault world record for the 14th time, with a massive attempt of 6.30 m at Tokyo on Monday.
With gold medal already in the bag, the Swedish star took three attempts at breaking his own world record, saving his best for the last, after just touching the bar on his previous two attempts at the height.
"I am so happy, I cannot explain it. For the past two weeks, I really enjoyed being in Tokyo. I have been enjoying everything so much. I feel the only way to leave Japan was to set the world record. That was my mentality," he said, according to Olympics.com
Duplantis' win in Japan is his third successive outdoor world championships gold, following wins at Oregon in 2022 and 2023 in Budapest.
The podium was completed by Emmanouil Karalis of Greece, who secured a valiant jump of 6.00 for a silver, while Australian Kurtis Marschall settled for a bronze medal with a jump of 5.95 m.
The two-time Olympic gold medalist and reigning pole vault champion has become a massive attraction at athletics events and everytime he steps on the track, he more often than not walks away with a record to his name. With 14 world records, two Olympic titles, three World Championships golds and five Diamond League titles, Mondo is surely going down as one of the greatest pole vault athletes ever.
At Paris Olympics 2024, where he won gold, he suggested to Olympics.com that the height he secured during this day at Tokyo was his long-term goal, saying, "I know I can jump higher, and I want to jump a lot higher. I would like to jump over 6.30m."
With so much accomplished already at age of 25, what is next for him? For now, he is happy to stay and celebrate in the present.
"I do not know what is next for me at this moment," he said, with the expected uncertainty of someone whose goals constantly need to change. "I do not care. I will just enjoy this right now," he concluded.
Coming to the Indian athletes, it was another rough day at work for them.
Asian Games silver medalist Murali Sreeshankar bowed out of the men's long jump event in the qualification round itself during the ongoing World Athletics Championships in Tokyo on Monday.
The 26-year-old's best effort of 7.78m, with other legal attempts of 7.70 m and 7.59 m, earned him a 14th place in Group A of athletes and overall 25th amongst 36 players. His returns were not sufficient to help him meet the qualification criteria of 8.15 m jump or finish in the top 12 needed to reach the medal round, as per Olympics.com.
Sreeshankar had made a return from a long injury layoff after a knee injury that ruled him out of the Paris 2024 Olympics. He entered the World Championships with five wins in five events and a season-best of 8.13 m at the Indian Open in Bhubaneswar last month. His personal best is 8.41 m, just short of Jeswin Aldrin's national record of 8.42 m.
At the 2022 World Championships in Oregon, Sreeshankar made it to the final and secured a seventh-place finish with a leap of 7.96m.
It was a poor day at work for India's women's 3000 m steeplechasers, with Parul Chaudhary, the national record holder with 9:12.46s, clocking 9:22.24s to finish ninth in her heat and gaining a 20th-place finish overall. Parul had made it to the final two years back in the Budapest edition of the championships.
Ankita Dhyani was 11th in her heat with a time of 10:03.22s and 35th overall, securing the last spot in the field. They both needed a top-five in their respective heats to reach the medal round, but fell way short.
Tejas Shirse, in men's 110 m hurdles, clocked 13.57 seconds and finished sixth in his heat. He is the national record holder with 13.41 seconds. Tejas finished in 29th spot in a field of 42 athletes, missing out on the semifinals.
India has secured only three medals in the World Athletics Championships. Anju Bobby George won long jump bronze at Paris 2003, while Neeraj Chopra claimed javelin silver at Oregon 2022 and clinched a historic, first-time ever gold at Budapest in 2023 to solidify his legacy as one of India's greatest athletes ever.
India's Tokyo 2025 contingent includes 19 members, including 14 men and five women, competing across 15 events.
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