I Can Go Higher, Says Pole Vault Champ Duplantis After Record Near-miss

Tokyo, Aug 5 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 5th Aug, 2021 ) :Olympic pole vault champion Armand Duplantis said he was confident of raising his world record still further after he came close to setting a new best in the Tokyo final.

Duplantis secured gold with 6.02 metres and then came agonisingly close on his record attempt of 6.19m. But the 21-year-old Swede said he had plenty more to come.

"I definitely think I can jump higher than I've jumped so far," he said at an event organised by official timekeeper Omega.

"Into the 6.20s, this is very possible for me, especially considering the way I felt over over 6.19 a couple of nights ago." After Sergey Bubka's world record of 6.14m stood for 20 years, France's Renaud Lavillenie jumped 6.16m in 2014, but Duplantis has taken the event to new heights, raising the record to 6.18m.

He said it was a "bit of a bummer" that his good friend, American Sam Kendricks, missed Tuesday's final after being ruled out by coronavirus and he believes he could have jumped higher with the reigning world champion present.

"He's somebody that very well could have pushed me to some higher heights," Duplantis said.

"And I think we could have definitely done something even more special than what happened." Duplantis narrowly missed a potentially ruinous coffee appointment with Kendricks in Tokyo's Athletes' Village when a phone conversation with his girlfriend overran.

He said he was in regular touch with Kendricks during his isolation in Tokyo.

"It's a shame. It's a crazy situation, something that you never would predict to happen," Duplantis said. "But I guess that's just the way this crazy world works nowadays."