Mondo Duplantis ‘shakes off rust’ with season-opening win in Berlin

Athletics – Athletics Indoor meeting ISTAF – Uber Arena, Berlin, Germany – February 14, 2025 Sweden’s Armand Duplantis in action during the men’s pole vault REUTERS/Axel Schmidt

Pole vault king Armand “Mondo” Duplantis kickstarted his 2025 season by clearing 6.10 meters in Berlin on Friday, describing his winning effort as a way “to shake off the rust.”

Duplantis set a new world mark of 6.25m when he defended his Paris Olympic gold medal in 2024, which he later extended by one centimeter in Poland in August.

READ: Duplantis sets pole vault meet record in Diamond League Final

On Friday, the American-born Swede jumped 5.55, 5.85, 5.94 and 6.02 metres before leaving his competitors behind as he set his sights on breaking the meet record of 6.06m.

He followed up a jump of 6.10 metres before setting the bar at a new world record height of 6.27 meters, but was unable to clear the height in two attempts.

Athletics – Athletics Indoor meeting ISTAF – Uber Arena, Berlin, Germany – February 14, 2025 Sweden’s Armand Duplantis in action during the men’s pole vault REUTERS/Axel Schmidt

“It was a good competition to start the season. I like jumping here and it was good to come back to this hall,” said Duplantis, who previously competed in Berlin in 2023.

READ: Sweden’s Mondo Duplantis–pole vault’s invincible superstar

The 25-year-old added: “At the first competition (of the season) you always need to shake off some rust.”

Greek Emmanouil Karalis, who won bronze in Paris, was second with a height of 5.94, while German Oleg Zernikel finished third.

Duplantis’ next competition is in France on February 28, followed by competitions in his native Sweden and China in March.

The season’s highlight will come in the World Championships in Tokyo in September, where he will look to win his third gold medal in the competition.