Duplantis breaks pole vault world record at Budapest Grand Prix

BUDAPEST, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- Swedish Olympic champion Armand Duplantis set his 13th world record by clearing 6.29 meters in men's pole vault at the Istvan Gyulai Memorial, a World Athletics Continental Tour Gold event here on Tuesday.

Duplantis, the 2023 world champion and 2024 Paris Olympic winner, tied at 6.02m with Greek athlete Emmanouil Karalis on their first attempts. Karalis failed to clear 6.11m after two attempts, while Duplantis succeeded before surpassing his own world record by one centimeter, which he had set in Stockholm in June.

The 25-year-old achieved the new mark on his second attempt, making it the first world record at the National Athletic Center.

"It was really special. I felt it from the start, even though not all my jumps were perfect. There was something in the air today. I've had a fantastic week in Budapest. I fell in love with the city," Duplantis said after his record-breaking jump at the Hungarian Athletics Grand Prix.

Duplantis also praised Hungarian cuisine.

"Maybe the Hungarian Goulash is the perfect recipe for the world record. I had some really nice goulash two days ago, and that's probably not a coincidence for jumping so high today. I think it's really nice. I'm probably going to have some goulash tonight too and celebrate with Hungarian beer," he said with a laugh.

Hungarian hammer throw world and Olympic medalist Bence Halasz set a meet record with a season-best throw of 83.18m. Jamaican sprinter Bryan Levell won the men's 200m in 19.69 seconds. Kenya's Laban Kipkorir Chepkwony dominated the men's 800m with a personal best of 1:42.96, breaking the meeting record set nine years ago by world record-holder David Rudisha.

In the women's events, Australian Georgia Griffith claimed victory in the 1500m with a meet record of 3:58.25, while Tina Sutej from Slovenia renewed the pole vault meet record at 4.73m. Femke Bol of the Netherlands won the women's 400m hurdles in 52.24.

"I'm happy with the win and with how consistent I've been in the low 52s. I feel better than before. Tokyo is coming, and I hope to bring an even stronger performance there," said Bol.

The World Athletics Championships will be held from Sept. 13 to 21 in Tokyo, Japan. ■