13 hours ago
Incredible reason why Mondo Duplantis has now broken the pole vault world record TWELVE times - and it's earned him almost £1m
Mondo Duplantis rose the bar further on Sunday as the double Olympic champion broke the men's pole vault record for the 12th time in his career, netting another financial reward in the process.
The Swedish superstar achieved a clearance of 6.28m at the Diamond League in Stockholm.
Duplantis had earned victory in the event before setting his sights on achieving his aim of breaking the world record in front of a home crowd for the first time.
The 25-year-old attempted to increase his world record by one centimetre from his previous height of 6.27 metres on February 28.
Duplantis cleared the 6.28m height at the first attempted before taking his vest off in celebration and joining his fiancee Desire Inglander and family in the stands.
In total, it was the 12th time Duplantis has broken the world record since achieving the feat for the first time in 2020 when he cleared 6.17m, surpassing the previous best height achieved by France's Renaud Lavillenie.
Duplantis' decision to continue breaking the world record in one centimetre installments is due to prize money he can earn.
The Swedish star can scoop a maximum $100,000 in prize money, depending on the event, if he achieves a world record at an competition.
DUPLANTIS' DOZEN WORLD RECORDS
8 February, 2020 - 6.17m
15 February, 2020 - 6.18m
7 March, 2022 - 6.19m
20 March, 2022 - 6.20m
24 July, 2022 - 6.21m
25 February, 2023 - 6.22m
17 September, 2023 - 6.23m
20 April, 2024 - 6.24m
5 August, 2024 - 6.25m
25 August, 2024 - 6.26m
28 February, 2025 - 6.27m
15 June, 2025 - 6.28m
The incentive makes it more lucrative for Duplantis to incrementally increase the record, rather than look for one single extraordinary height.
Prize money for breaking the world record is also capped, with a bonus available only once per meeting.
Duplantis' approach has become commonplace among pole vaulters in the past with Ukrainian Sergey Bubka and Russia's Yelena Isinbayeva having done so in their careers to maximise bonuses.
Bubka set the men's world record outdoors 17 times during his career, while Isinbayeva broke the women's mark on 28 occasions during her career.
In total, Duplantis is estimated to have earned almost £1million alone in world record bonuses.
Speaking after his latest record, the Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024 Olympic champion admitted achieving the feat in front of a home crowd had been one of his main goals.
'I'm just so glad that it could come together and that I was able to do it,' Duplantis told
'It was one of my biggest goals for the year - actually, for the past few years - to break the world record here. It's such a special feeling [so] I'm trying to enjoy it.
'I think the jump was the perfect jump on the day.
The star was cheered on by his fiancee Desire Inglander from the stands in Stockholm
'There's going to be better jumps in the future; I'm not worried about that. I did the right jump at the right time; that's the only thing that I care about.
'I'm living in the moment, I'm trying to enjoy this right now, that's the most important thing.'
The four-time World Athletics men's athlete of the year has already claimed the world indoor title for the third time back in March.
He will now set his sights on a third outdoor world title in later this year and potentially raising the bar even further to scoop further bonuses.
