Armand Duplantis celebrated the end of what he described as his “best-ever” season after a victorious performance at the Diamond League finals in Brussels. However, the US-born Swedish pole vaulter expressed hesitation about participating in more mid- or end-season exhibition races anytime soon.
Reflecting on an exhibition 100m race he ran against Norwegian hurdler Karsten Warholm the day before the Diamond League meet in Zurich, Duplantis admitted, “I don’t know if it’s finished,” referring to the concept of such races. “But there’s not going to be races anytime soon. If anything, it would be a relay with the Swedish squad if I think we had a chance to break the Swedish record.”
Duplantis won the 100m race, clocking 10.37 seconds to beat Warholm’s 10.47, but said, “I felt pretty beat up right now. I don’t think the timing was also maybe so perfect for us. Coming off the Olympics, I haven’t trained that much, probably for four weeks. I haven’t done any sprint training, so it was such a shock to my body and my energy.”
He added, “I don’t think it would be as much of a problem as it was now, but it’s the end of the season, and you’re already kind of just hanging on. I put my body through a lot. I don’t regret it, it was amazing, and we’ll see what happens after this.”
Duplantis also noted that Warholm, who withdrew from the Diamond League meet due to a hamstring niggle, “is doing okay. He says it was nothing serious.”
In Brussels, Duplantis cleared 5.62m, 5.92m, and 6.11m, setting a new meeting record with his 15th consecutive win of an unbeaten season. However, a potential world record attempt wasn’t in the cards, as Duplantis had already set a new record of 6.26m at the Paris Olympics. Regarding his vault in Brussels, he said, “I just really prayed I’d make it on that first attempt.”
Armand Duplantis admitted that he wasn’t focused on setting a world record at the Brussels Diamond League finals. “I just take it as it comes,” he explained. “I don’t think my body was really going to allow me to take another jump, honestly, at least my hamstrings. I didn’t have the speed all the way to jump 6.27… I did what I had to do and got the most out of what my body could do.”
He acknowledged that not every day would be conducive to breaking records, saying, “Not every day is going to be like that when it comes to world records, and I’m aware of that, but it was not going to happen today.”
Looking forward to some well-deserved downtime, Duplantis expressed excitement about trying Belgium’s famous beers before hitting the dance floor. “I have rhythm and I can dance a little bit, but it just depends on who you’re comparing it to,” he said with a smile, pointing out French 110m hurdler Sacha Zhoya’s disco skills. “If I have some liquid courage, then I think I’m better than him probably.”
As for what comes next, Duplantis was clear about staying in the moment. “I’m just enjoying the present and living right now. I’m going to soak in the whole season, then go from here,” he said, as he looked forward to taking four weeks off from training.
