Sawt Falasteen - Duplantis on song as he breaks his own pole vault world record  

After securing victory in the competition by clearing a bar at 6.07m, Duplantis then took aim at the world record, raising the bar to 6.27 metres and clearing it at the first attempt.

"I just felt really good," the vaulter known as "Mondo" said. "What can I say, I came here to do it. I put everything in place to do it. The run-up worked really well. I just did it."

It was the 11th time he had broken the record by one centimetre since first claiming it with a leap of 6.16m in February 2020.

Duplantis made sure that his song "Bop" -- released just in time for the meet -- was playing in the arena.

"That was my song that was playing," the breathless Duplantis said immediately after the jump. "When I made this song a couple of months ago, I thought this wold be a perfect song to jump to here. That's why I rushed it out."

But the Louisiana-born athlete declined to sing.

"Now my voice is messed up because I've been yelling," he said

This is the second time that Duplantis, 25, has improved his mark in Clermont-Ferrand. He jumped 6.22m in the event in February 2023.

"I'm going to enjoy this right now I'm going to have a good time tonight and enjoy it," he said.

Duplantis had set the previous record of 6.26 metres at a Diamond League meeting in Chorzow, Poland on 25 August 2024.

That was just a few weeks after he earned Olympic gold in Paris with his ninth world record of 6.25.

On Friday, Duplantis and Emmanouil Karalis, the Olympic bronze medallist, both cleared 6.02m. The Greek jumper then decided "not to take risks" after feeling cramps and withdrew.

Duplantis broke the tie by clearing 6.07m and immediately raised the bar 20cm.

The All Star Pole Vault meeting was the second of the season for Duplantis, who made his return to competition in Berlin on 14 February by jumping 6.10m.

He had opted to compete in Clermont and skip the European Indoor Championships in Apeldoorn in the Netherlands on March 6-9.

"I just love it here," Duplantis said. "I love the atmosphere here. I jump really well here. Everyone jumps really well here. This is why I didn't go to Europe."

He will jump again on March 13 in Uppsala, Sweden, in a meeting he is organising, before going to the World Indoor Championships in Nanjing in China on March 21-23.

Asked when he'll break 6.30, Duplantis answered "28, 29" first.

B.Mahmoud--SF-PST