The rise and rise of Mondo Duplantis: What’s next for track & field’s greatest entertainer?
Seeing Duplantis vault in an international competition has become its own special type of show. It is rare that an athlete is so universally loved, and the expectation that comes with watching him — that a world record may be set every time he competes — can be felt throughout the stadium with each gasp of the crowd.
This particular show had a little of everything. He played to the Tokyo audience by striking a Shohei Ohtani pose after clearing 6.15m, motioned downwards to calm their emotions when he scraped the bar on his second 6.30m attempt, and leapt in among them when he finally broke the world record.
But showmanship would mean nothing without the stats to back it up. And Duplantis has them in abundance.
14 world records. Two Olympic titles. Three world championship golds. Five Diamond League titles.
The list goes on.
And yet it watching Duplantis at his brilliant best never gets old. His victory in Tokyo and the roars from the crowd that accompanied it are a testament to the fact that this is one of the greatest athletes operating in the world today.
At Paris 2024, Duplantis suggested to Olympics.com that the height he conquered this evening might be his long-term goal, saying: “I know I can jump higher, and I want to jump a lot higher. I would like to jump over 6.30m.”
Now with that mark scuppered, like the 13 other world records before it, the question is, what’s next for Mondo Duplantis?
And while the world is eager for an answer to that question, it’s one for another day. For now, he is content to revel in the present as he continues his history-making journey in sport.
“I don’t know what is next for me at this moment,” he said, with the expected uncertainty of someone whose goals constantly need to change. “I don’t care. I will just enjoy this right now.”