By Maggie Vanoni
Before Armand “Mondo” Duplantis started high school, his father, Greg, made a bet with him, saying that if Armand could pole vault 18 feet in high school, he would get him any car he wanted.
Mondo, a junior at Lafayette High School in Louisiana, surpassed that mark as sophomore. He didn’t get the car, but he did place second in the Great Southwest Classic meet.
Now he’ll compete Saturday in his first Prefontaine Classic, in an event his father won in 1992, two years after a third-place finish, against a field including world record holder Renaud Lavillenie of France and Rio Olympic gold medalist Thiago Braz Da Silva of Brazil.
“I watched the Rio Olympics from my house,” said Mondo. “To be able to jump against those competitors, I mean, everyone in this meet is religiously talented. It feels like a second ago that those people were role models to me, even though it was a couple years ago.
“I don’t think it’s hit me yet that I’m going to be competing against them. But I think that deserve to be in the competition and that I have proven that I have jumped high enough to be there.”
But Mondo is the top seed with a vault of 19 feet, 4 1/4 inches (5.90 meters), a personal best from the Texas Relays in April.
With that vault, Mondo, who has dual citizenship in the United States and Sweden, surpassed the under-20 U.S. record, the Swedish national record and his father’s personal best of 5.8 meters (19 feet, 1/4 inch).
“I didn’t think I was going to passing my dad’s personal best this early in my life,” said Mondo. “It didn’t feel like a really good jump at all. I was on a really big pole for me, so I wasn’t trying to have really good technique—I was just trying to move the pole into the pit.
Greg said it was great to watch his son pass his own record.
“Last year this time, I knew he would jump higher than me,” said Greg. “And now it’s more bragging rights for him. Nineteen feet is a big jump, and most guys don’t ever jump 19 feet. But I knew this time last year that he was going to jump 19 feet at some point. I just didn’t know it would be this year.”
More than just his son’s coach, Greg is also a mentor to Mondo. Mondo said that he compares Greg’s form from when he was a professional to his own. Greg, who is shorter than Mondo, vaulted differently and drove his trail leg. Mondo didn’t like that technique and uses a more French approach, dropping his leg with a big left arm.
Mondo grew up with a pole vault pit in his backyard and has been competing in the event since he was 6 years old.
“I mean I don’t think there is anybody who has a trampoline in their backyard who has never jumped on their trampoline,” he said. “You’re gonna try it when you’re young. And that was the case for pole vaulting.”
He has the age group world records for ages 7 through age 12, most recently setting the age group record for 17-year-olds.
Where Mondo’s athletic career has just begun, the other Duplantis brothers are in full collegiate swing. The oldest brother, Andreas, pole vaults collegiately as a senior at LSU, and Antoine, the middle brother, a sophomore, currently plays baseball there.
“Mondo is not a superstar in our family,” said Greg. “We have other superstars, too. He is 17, and 17 year olds don’t know what they don’t know. He’s so advanced in pole vaulting that sometimes I do forget that he’s 17. He does stuff that I see guys do that is just really high level, and then he can act like a 17-year-old. That dynamic is sometimes difficult to deal with.”
Mondo has been taking advice from his father for the entirety of his pole vaulting career and continues to do so as he prepares to compete at Hayward Field. Greg advised Mondo to just do what he’s been doing his whole life and not let the pressure of the meet get to him.
“He talked about how good the environment is,” said Mondo. “Especially how the pole vault runaway is right along the crowd. I like the crowd and I like when the crowd gets involved, so I think it should be fun.”
As for whether another car is up for bet after tomorrow’s performance, Greg joked, “We don’t have a bet this year. I quit betting him, because he wins every time.”
