The men's pole vault final, lasting over two and a half hours at Japan National Stadium on 15/9, truly heated up when the bar was raised to 6m.

Armand Duplantis competes in the men's pole vault final at Japan National Stadium in Tokyo on 15/9/2025. Photo: AFP

Duplantis easily cleared 6m, 6.10m, and 6.15m to secure the gold medal. Five other athletes were still competing, but only Emmanouil Karalis (Greece) cleared 6m for silver, while Kurtis Marschall (Australia) took bronze with 5.95m.

Already the champion, Duplantis continued, raising the bar to 6.30m to target a new record. After two initial misses, he soared over the bar on his final attempt to the roar of 60,000 spectators.

This is Duplantis' third consecutive outdoor world title, following Oregon 2022 and Budapest 2023. The Swedish star set his 14th world record, adding to a collection that already includes two Olympic gold medals and five Diamond League titles.

In 2025 alone, Duplantis broke the record four times. Previously, he cleared 6.29m at the Istvan Gyulai Memorial, 6.28m at the Wanda Diamond League in Sweden, and 6.27m at the All Star Perche in France on 28/2.

Duplantis first broke the record in 2020 with 6.17m. Since then, he has set 12 more records, each time increasing the mark by 1 cm.

According to Forbes, Duplantis is fully capable of surpassing these records significantly. However, athletes currently only receive a USD 100,000 bonus for breaking a record at a competition. This means that even if Duplantis breaks two records or increases the record by 2 cm or more in a single competition, he still only receives USD 100,000. Therefore, he breaks the record by 1 cm each time to earn more bonuses.

At the 2024 Paris Olympics, Duplantis revealed that 6.30m was his long-term goal. Now that he has achieved it in Tokyo, experts are wondering what his next target will be. "I don't know what's next. Right now, I just want to enjoy this moment," the 25-year-old athlete expressed.

Duplantis' achievements and times across 14 world pole vault records. Graphics: Marca

The 2025 World Athletics Championships Tokyo 2025 took place from 13/9 to 21/9 at Japan National Stadium in Tokyo. This is the third time Japan has hosted this event, following Tokyo 1991 and Osaka 2007. This year's event attracted over 2,000 athletes from around 200 countries and territories, competing in 49 events.

The third day of competition, 15/9, saw medals awarded in several events. In the men's 3000m steeplechase, Geordie Beamish (New Zealand) made a spectacular sprint to overtake world and Olympic champion Soufiane El Bakkali, winning gold with a time of 8 minutes 33.88 seconds. El Bakkali finished just 0.07 seconds behind for silver, while Edmund Serem (Kenya) took bronze with 8 minutes 34.56 seconds.

In the women's 100m hurdles, Ditaji Kambundji (Switzerland) caused a major upset, beating a series of top contenders to finish first with a national record time of 12.24 seconds, just 0.02 seconds off the 27-year-old European record. World champion Tobi Amusan (Nigeria) took silver with 12.29 seconds, and Grace Stark (USA) won bronze with 12.34 seconds, ahead of reigning Olympic champion Masai Russell.

Most notably, Oblique Seville won gold in the men's 100m, becoming the first Jamaican athlete since the legendary Usain Bolt to win this event.

Compiled by Hong Duy