Duplantis basks in ‘best-ever’ season, not rushing for more exhibitions

By AFP
September 15, 2024
Sweden's Armand Duplantis competes in the men's pole vault city event part of the "Athletissima" Diamond League athletics meeting in Lausanne on August 21, 2024. — AFP

BRUSSELS: Armand Duplantis was left basking after a victorious end to what he said had been his “best-ever” season at the Diamond League finals in Brussels.

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But the US-born Swede said he would not necessarily be rushing into any more mid- or end-season exhibition races.

Duplantis beat Norwegian hurdles star Karsten Warholm in an exhibition 100m on the eve of last week´s Diamond League meet in Zurich. It was an event that he said had left him “wrecked”. At least he made the competition the following day. Warholm pulled out with a hamstring niggle.

“I don´t know if it´s finished,” he said of the concept. “But there´s not going to be races anytime soon.

“If anything, it would be a relay with the Swedish squad if I think we had a chance to break the Swedish record.”

Duplantis, who clocked 10.37 seconds to beat Warholm´s 10.47, said he felt “pretty beat up right now”. “I don´t think the timing was also maybe so perfect for us.

“Coming off the Olympics I haven´t trained that much, I haven´t trained for probably four weeks. Realistically I haven´t done any sprint training so it was such a shock to my body and my energy.

“I don´t think it would be as much of a problem as it was now, but it´s the end of the season and you´re already kind of just hanging on and I put my body through a lot. “I don´t regret it, it was amazing and we´ll see what happens after this.”

Warholm, he added, was “doing okay. He says it was nothing serious”.

- 15th win of unbeaten season -

Duplantis only vaulted three times in Brussels, at 5.62, 5.92 and 6.11m, the latter a new meeting record. It was his 15th straight win.

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