Nairobi: For Swedish Pole Vaulter Armand “Mondo” Duplantis, the only goal when he stepped to jump into his first Olympic match in Tokyo won a gold medal.
The 21-year-old duplantis, a world silver medalist, has held a world record after he was cleaned 6.17 meters on a world athletic tour in Torun, Poland, in February 2020 and improved on it with a centimeter in Glasgow in the same month.
He also boasted an extraordinary pole safe when he jumped 6.15 million to win gold at the Roma Diamond League meeting in September last year.
At the Tokyo Olympics, because starting next Friday, Duplantis told reporters this week about gold for him.
“Win is the only goal,” he said.
“In a dream of course the world, I want to go and break the world record and do something very legendary in the match, but this is my first game and I just want to win, it’s really the only thing in my mind now.” He will Compete for gold to people like Sam Kendricks America, who defended his world’s degree in Doha in 2019 and claimed the Bronze Olympics five years ago.
However, Duplantis headed to Japan with a great form.
On this month’s diamond diamond event in Stockholm, Duplantis wore a show, cleaning 6.02 m to win the meeting record.
He even tried 6.19 million to try to break his world record when fans patted him but did not succeed in clearing the height.
Unlike Stockholm, Duplantis must face competing without spectators in Japan.
The authorities said the Olympics will take place without fans in the host town of Tokyo, when they wrestle with the risen Coronavirus who forced them to declare an emergency in the capital who would walk throughout the match.
No fans jumped for 2020 without fans giving duplantis ideas about how they could compete without support, he said was not easy to be fully accustomed to him.
“You don’t have the same spark when you jump, you just don’t have the same adrenaline, you don’t have the same motivation,” he said.
“You know that TV people are there and they are filming you, and there are people who watch through the screen (TV), you know that.
But you don’t feel it,” he added.
However, while no one can replace the leap in front of live fans waving flags and clapping, the Grand Stage of the Olympic Games promised to offer enough motivation, he said.
“I mean, the Olympics, and this is the most important competition that I will compete, so I think I will have all the motivations I need,” Duplantis added.
It will duplantis first trip to Japan and say that he looked at the Japanese baseball player who grew up.
“Three years ago, I bought Jersey Shohei Ohtani, even before he was in MLB (main league baseball),” he said referring to Japanese baseball stars known as ‘Shotime’.
“I watched the video and I became rather obsessed with him because I thought of the things he did very crazy.
I told me all my friends about him, by saying he was a kind of new Babe Ruth.” Duplantis was born in the state of Louisiana U.S.
– His father is a former pole vaulter Greg Duplantis – but in 2015 chose to compete for Sweden where his mother Helena came from.
He played football and baseball grew but chose a pole cabinet for giving him “the best chance to make it up”.
He certainly fulfilled his potential but won a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics will be a layer of sugar on the cake.