All the pole vaulters celebrated Mondo’s new milestone in the Wanda Diamond League.
EJ Obiena secured another medal, nabbing silver in the Wanda Diamond League final held in Eugene, Oregon on Monday (Manila time).
Clearing 5.82 meters on his second attempt to etch his place on the podium, Obiena tried to beat his personal record of 6.0 meters and went for 6.02 meters. The pride of Tondo, however, failed in all three attempts.
World no. 1 pole vaulter Mondo Duplantis, on the other hand, did not have a hard time going over the same height—and then went further. For his next attempt, the Swedish athlete went for 6.23 meters, one centimeter higher than the 6.21-meter world record he set in February.
In just one try, Duplantis cleared the bar, setting a new world record for the seventh time—and bringing the house down.
Obiena, USA’s Christopher Nilsen and Sam Kendricks—who finished third in the Oregon tilt—and the rest of the pole vaulters all celebrated Duplantis’ otherworldly accomplishment.
“Pole vault fam,” EJ wrote on Instagram as he shared their photo, which was taken after Mondo’s feat.
It’s almost as if like all these competitors aren’t preparing to outdo each other in the biggest competition of all, the Paris Olympics.
Duplantis knows he can do more, which means that Obiena, the world’s second-ranked pole vaulter, has his work cut out for him to sniff at an Olympic gold.
But they're not thinking about that just yet. They’re just enjoying the moment.
“The limit is very high, and I hope that I can continue to jump well and keep jumping higher than I did today. But, for now, I’m not really thinking about anything except enjoying this moment and enjoying what I just did,” Duplantis said in an article posted on Olympics.com.
Obiena, who has outdone Duplantis before, will now prepare to take part in the Asian Games, which will be held in Hangzhou, China.