Latest news with #LaureusSportsAwards
Mint
08-05-2025
- Sport
- Mint
Mastering the impossible: Inside the record-breaking world of pole vaulter Mondo Duplantis
In 2024, there were athletes, and then there was Mondo Duplantis. To describe that season, words are hard to come by, and Duplantis himself mutters things like 'weird" and 'surreal". But if there's one word that, casting aside superlatives, captures the essence of the 25-year-old Swedish-American pole vaulter's year—15 wins in 15 competitions, world champion, European Champion, Olympic champion, and three-time world record breaker—it's this: impossible. Any athlete operating in the top tier would like to believe that they are chasing the impossible, that they are on a quest to turn dreams into reality. Once in a generation, that really happens. Duplantis belongs, with consummate ease, in the same sphere as Usain Bolt, Michael Phelps, Simone Biles and Eliud Kipchoge. So far ahead of the rest that during the Paris Olympics, with the pole vault competition done—in fact all events for the day were over—and the gold in his pocket, Duplantis, who still had a couple of jumps left, if he wished to take them, decided to go for the world record. More than 77,000 people inside the sweltering, heaving Stade De France roared and chanted—Mondo, Mondo, Mondo. Even his opponents, the entire pool of finalists in the men's pole vault, stood on the sidelines egging him on. He had won the Olympic gold with a 6.0m jump, so he first loosened up with a 6.10m jump to set the Olympic record. Then he raised the bar to 6.25m, jack-knifed and soared over it like only he can, accompanied by a deafening wall of sound, to break the world record for the ninth time. Duplantis had become the first man to break the pole vault world record in an Olympic final and the first to win back-to-back Olympic golds in the event since US's Bob Richards in 1952 and 1956. By the time I meet him, on the sidelines of the Laureus Sports Awards on a cool April day in Madrid this year, Duplantis had broken the world record twice more (it stands at 6.27m now), and had been unbeaten since 2023. 'But Paris…man, it's hard to beat Paris," he says, lounging on a sofa in blue denim, sneakers and a flowy slate-grey cotton shirt with a Cuban collar. 'The way the stars aligned for me that night…I was on a different planet, it was weird. It was such an overwhelming, surreal and life-changing moment, it was hard to take it all in. The craziest moment I had in my career for sure." A striking development in the world of sports, very visible at the Paris Olympics, is the newfound camaraderie between rivals. Neeraj Chopra and his Pakistani rival Arshad Nadeem (silver and gold in javelin) are fast friends, the American gymnasts Simone Biles and Jordan Chiles bowed to Brazilian gymnast Rebecca Andrade when the latter won the gold in the floor event, and all of Duplantis's rivals lined up to cheer him on to the world record. 'In our instances, it's a very individual sport which I think helps to bring everybody together," Duplantis says. 'Because whatever the person on the other side does, it's not going to affect me or my performance. It's just a competition within yourself, just against the bar. Particularly with pole vaulting—it's just a strange and crazy event that attracts people who are kind of weird in their own way to even dare to do it." Pole vaulting is a strange sport, no two ways about it. It requires the speed and power of a sprinter, and the coordination and daredevilry of a gymnast. It is highly dangerous—the athlete pummels down a track at full speed holding a pole that's a little over 19ft long, which they then ram into a hole (called a 'box"), to flip themselves over a bar that, at the elite level, is 19ft high or more. Pole vaulting has been around since at least 2500 BC, when the ancient Egyptians used poles to reach enemy battlements or cross a hurdle, but it's safe to say that no one in those thousands of years has managed to soar to Duplantis's heights. Yet fear is not part of his emotional spectrum when it comes to pole vaulting. 'You always have a bit of a mental barrier when you are jumping, specially when you are trying a new height," Duplantis said. 'But I was always quite good at it. My father, who was my coach, never had to help me overcome any fear. The main thing for him was…if something happened like I broke a pole or had a bad jump, it was really important for him to try and make sure that we ended the session on a good jump, ended with a good taste in my mouth. You only ever remember your last jump, that's the beautiful thing about it." When Duplantis says that he was always good at it, what he means is that he has been jumping since he was a toddler. He was only four when his father Greg, a college-level pole-vaulter in the US, built him a backyard facility at their home in Lafayatte, Louisiana, and taught him the sport (it may be pointless to try and explain how someone gets to such rarefied levels of accomplishment in any field, but in sports, you can bet genetics has something to do with it—Duplantis's mother Helena is a former heptathlete from Sweden, which is also why Duplantis chose to represent Sweden instead of the US while in his teens). 'I grew up idolising my dad," Duplantis says, 'he just has so much love for sports and for pole vaulting that it just rubbed off on me and I think that's a big part of how I was able to get attached to it at such an young age. Of course he was the one who introduced me to it, but then also the way he was obsessed with it, that's something we bonded over." As he grew up, Duplantis says, his relationship with his father became less like that of a child and his parent and more like 'best friends, or brothers, in a way… 'I follow his advice and guidance all the time, but at the same time, he has let me figure out my own path in such a beautiful way." The backyard set-up still exists in their sprawling garden—more a forest than a garden, in the way that everything grows in wild profusion in the rainy, humid and hot climate of Louisiana. It consists of a running track which was once just packed earth but is now only slightly more upgraded with a metal track overlaid with plywood and foam, ending in a landing pad and the bar. Vines and ferns encroach from all sides. And one side of the track has the neighbour's brick wall, padded with discarded mattresses if Duplantis was to suffer a fall. But even here, Duplantis cleared world record heights multiple times while isolating himself and preparing for the Tokyo Olympics in the middle of the pandemic. What does it feel like, I ask him, to break the world record so many times? 'It's difficult to explain…people look at it two or three centimetres, but man that's a big gap," he says. 'When I first broke the world record with 6.17 (in 2020) to now at 6.27, those 10 centimetres are light years away, a completely different level of jump. Each time it becomes exponentially harder for me. I'm just creeping up I guess. Each time it requires me to be better at everything, every aspect of the jump, and I have to find little details that I can refine to get to those extra centimetres." But is 6.28 just around the corner? 'Oh yes," he smiles, 'I think that's coming soon." Rudraneil Sengupta is the author of The Beast Within , a detective novel set in Delhi.
Mint
29-04-2025
- Sport
- Mint
Dutch legend Ruud Gullit: How football DNA shaped this year's Champions League semifinalists
The semi-finalists for this year's Champions League are a surprising mix of teams that worked through their adversities and found their identities over the course of the season—a journey that has thrilled Ruud Gullit. 'I'm so happy for them," the Dutch football legend said, "and what makes me happier is that all four teams play attacking football." Gullit, who once formed one of the game's most feared attacking trios with Marco Van Basten and Frank Rijkaard, is a staunchadvocate of "Total Football", the flowing, attack-minded, space-exploiting, mode of play masterminded by fellow Dutch legend, the late Johann Cruyff. It's a style of play that, crucially, gave new identities to Ajax Amsterdam and Barcelona, clubs where Cruyff reigned as both player and manager, a "DNA", as Gullit calls it, that still defines both clubs. Gullit shared his views on the Champions League, his favourite players, the importance of "DNA" for a football team, and things that annoy him in modern football in a conversation on the sidelines of the Laureus Sports Awards, which took place in Madrid on 21 April. Held annually by the global sports charity Laureus Foundation, of which Gullit is a member, the awards honored some of the best sportspeople in the world this year, including gymnast Simone Biles, tennis star Rafael Nadal and Barcelona's thrilling new talent, Lamine Yamal. Edited excerpts: No, they have all surprised us through the season, transformed themselves over the season. I am very happy with the four teams, and what I like most is that all four play attacking football. Inter is the most defensive one, playing a 3-5-2 with very strong defence, because they are an Italian team of course, but even they attack very well. Arsenal, PSG and Barcelona all play 4-3-3, and among them I think PSG have a little bit more power in the way they play. They all need to play at their tempo, keep the ball, stick with their tactics and just give it their all. The two teams with the young players, Barcelona and PSG, who I'm most excited about and I'm looking forward to seeing them play. An exceptional player, so good. It's become very difficult for the inside players now because everyone can run, and everyone is tactically aware. Everyone can press and close down spaces, so it's very crowded in the middle. The space is on the outside, and that's why you see that's where all the great players at the moment play, like Yamal. It's hard to predict. As usual, anything can happen. Even in the quarterfinals, PSG was almost outed, Barcelona was almost outed, but they scraped through. But I'm also happy to see the new Champions League structure by UEFA has given more teams the chance to shine. So you had teams like Aston Villa, Lille, PSV Eindhoven, who are unknown in the Champions League making their mark this time, and all of them got to make some money which they can put back into the grassroots of their clubs. The DNA of a football club is so important. PSG found their identity after they stopped chasing the most expensive players in the world and started looking inward to build something from the ground up. Look at the difference that has made, the players they have now– (Bradley) Barcola, (Ousmane Dembele), they have all come into their own. Vitinha, who wasn't even good enough for Wolves (Wolverhampton Wanderers), is now the best player for PSG, and may end up being the most influential player in the Champions League. I enjoy this, it's good to see players find themselves. Barcelona lost their way for a little while and then they returned to the identity that was formed by (Johan) Cruyff and they stuck to it, even when they played bad, or made some wrong decisions, or bought players that did not fit that DNA. So, they went back to their roots, to the youth, to their academy, to the young players raised in the Barca system, Cruyff's system, and then look at them now. Chelsea suffer because they don't have a DNA. They don't know how they want to play and what they want to do. Manchester united have lost their identity too. I feel for the fans because these teams have become unrecognizable. No one knows what to expect any more from them. On the other hand, (Jurgen) Klopp set the DNA for Liverpool and it was rock n' roll. Now Arne Slot is following the same blueprint, perhaps a little more prudent and a little less rock n' roll, but the same thing, the same system. Slot even brought some players back to form, he made (Virgil) van Dijk play much better, and (Ryan) Gravenberch has become unbelievable. That's a great achievement. Joshua Kimmich. I like him very much. So organised in the midfield. He has great eyes and he is very good with the ball, and moves the ball extremely well. (Alexis) Mac Allister is another fantastic player. I don't like goalkeepers with possession—that's the job of the midfielders! Too many goalkeepers now hold the ball, try and dribble, create very dangerous situations for the defence and for themselves and the team. I don't understand that at all. Rudraneil Sengupta is the author of Enter the Dangal, Travels through India's Wrestling Landscape.
India Today
22-04-2025
- Entertainment
- India Today
Watch: Stefanos Tsitsipas playfully teases girlfriend Paula Badosa on wedding plans
Stefanos Tsitsipas playfully teased his girlfriend Paula Badosa about their wedding plans during a recent event. On Monday, April 21, the tennis power couple attended the Laureus Sports Awards in Madrid. They were among several tennis stars present, including Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic, and Rafael an interview, Tsitsipas revealed that his favourite colour is white — one of the reasons Wimbledon is his preferred Grand Slam is my favourite colour. That's also why I like Wimbledon,' Tsitsipas said. Badosa chimed in, suggesting that his preference might be linked to his Read: Nadal, Badosa tennis stars sparkle in Laureus Awards'Maybe a Greek colour. It's very Greek vibes,' Badosa when Tsitsipas playfully brought up the idea of a wedding, hinting at a Greek-style celebration.'It's a Greek colour, Greek wedding,' Tsitsipas comment caught Badosa off guard, and she reacted with wide eyes — pleasantly to the light-hearted moment, the presenter joked, 'Is that breaking news, what?' Badosa laughed and blushed, raising her hands in mock response, Tsitsipas simply said, 'You never know.' advertisement View this post on Instagram A post shared by Tennis TV (@tennistv)The reporter followed up with, 'Are you getting married in Greece?'To that, Tsitsipas replied, 'We are still trying to figure it out.'Badosa then joined the conversation again, adding, 'We are competing like Spain, Greece, Spain. But Greece has my heart.'Tsitsipas confirmed one thing for sure: the wedding will have a Mediterranean flair.'For sure Mediterranean. That's a certain,' Tsitsipas the uninitiated, a Mediterranean wedding is a joyful fusion of culture, romance, and breathtaking scenery. Set against sunlit coastlines, it features lively music, traditional dances, and flavourful cuisine. Family, love, and timeless rituals come together for a truly unforgettable far as their tennis careers are concerned, Tsitsipas will take part in the Madrid Open after failing to go beyond the quarterfinals of the Barcelona Open. Badosa is also expected to play in Madrid.
