Duplantis ascends to new heights and it's all up from here

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

There were a handful of new national high school records set Saturday at New Balance Nationals Indoor -- and then there was what Mondo Duplantis did.

The 17-year-old pole vaulting prodigy from Lafayette, La. made a third-attempt clearance at 19 feet, 1 inch (5.82m) and earned the biggest cheer of the season at The Armory in New York City. 

The high school junior achieved the highest vault ever by someone under age 20. 

He broke The Armory building record. 

He broke the New Balance Nationals Indoor record by nearly 14 inches.

And he bested his old man. His father, Greg Duplantis, who vaulted professionally for a decade, retired with a career best of 19-0.25 (5.80m).

The height Duplantis made Saturday ranks seventh in the world in 2017. 

The boy who began setting world records for his age when he was 7 just keeps getting better and better. 

And Greg Duplantis has few words for what he is witnessing.

"It's amazing," he said. "We're working on stuff and I haven't quite figured out exactly what he's doing. He's doing things (with technique) that I don't think have ever been done before. He's not jumping the way I jumped, for sure."

Mondo Duplantis rides the pole up, pirouettes over the bar, and drops to the mat like a spent rubber band. 

His instincts have been honed by 13 years of repeated attempts, much of it play. But he is growing into his body and he is embracing a workout regiment laid out for him by his mother, Helena, a former heptathlete for Sweden.

Mondo began 2017 as the only male athlete in U.S. high school history with a clearance (indoors) over 18 feet. And now he has hit the stratosphere with 19 feet.

"He's doing something to get the most out of his energy transmission, and the most out of his energy conservation," Greg Duplantis explained. "He's got a way to harness the energy, not waste it, or fight it."

In the hands of very good pole vaulters the world over, engery and efficiency leaks out at critical junctures at nearly every stage of a jump. 

Mondo has a combination of body awareness, muscle memory and natural grace that allows him to remain remarkably consistent even as he's driving up his personal bests with new inches virtually every couple weeks. 

The appreciation for his talent extends around the world. Swedish former national record holder and coach Miro Zalar recently called Mondo "an artist."

A respected Greek coach approached Greg Duplantis last summer in Poland at the World U-20 Championships and commented that most vaulters look like they are fighting with the pole, but that Mondo "dances" with it. 

Duplantis had first-attempt makes at 17-5, 18-2.50 and 18-8.75. At 19-1, he missed twice before hitting it. 

"I've always wanted to jump higher than my dad," Mondo said. "It's something I've always dreamed of. I didn't think it would come this early."

At times while he was in the midst of the competition, he was exasperated by the fact that when he kept removing poles out of his bag the capped ends were popping off. Putting them back into place was wasting time and he was annoyed.

But when it came time to step onto the runway, he asked for a rhythmic clap and focused on the joyful athletic ride to the top, the smooth clearance, and the drop. 

What happens over the rest of the year is anyone's guess.

Does he turn pro this summer? Will he go to college? Will he move to Sweden?

At 19 feet, some of the fun and games of vaulting starts turning to business. 

"The pressure is building," Greg Duplantis said. "There's been money thrown at him. We can't accept it." 

The Swedish club team that Mondo is a member of has taken calls from every Diamond League meet organizer. 

"They all want to see him," his father said. "(Mondo) can get into any meet he wants in the world."

Greg Duplantis wanted nothing more in his career than to make a U.S. Olympic team. But he married a Swede. 

His older son, Andreas, competed for Sweden and had a "phenomenal experience," Greg said. 

The level of support from the Swedish athletics governing body, plus the prospect of more lucrative earnings, were calculated into the decision to compete internationally for Sweden instead of the U.S.

Mondo already knows he is on the Swedish team that will compete at the IAAF World Championships in London in August. In contrast, Olympic bronze medalist Sam Kendricks will have to earn his spot on the U.S. team  at the USATF Outdoor Championships in June. 

Regardless of the path he takes, he seems destined for stardom. 

Greg Duplantis said he has given up trying to predict what bar Mondo might conquer next. 

However, based on the underdeveloped physique of his son, Greg figures it is only a matter of time before he goes yet another foot higher. 

The world record is 20-2.50 (6.16m).

"He can go a foot higher just on what I call maturity height," Greg Duplantis said. "He's getting bigger, faster, stronger just by being alive. You get that for free, without doing anything."