Sweden’s Duplantis breaks world pole vault record

PARIS: Armand Duplantis of Sweden set a world pole vault record of 6.17 metres at an indoor meeting in Poland on Saturday .

Duplantis, the US-born 20-year-old who won silver at last year’s world championships in Doha, cleared the bar on his second attempt in Torun to break the previous record of 6.16m set by French vaulter Renaud Lavillenie in February 2014.

“It’s something that I wanted since I was three years old,” Duplantis told the website of World Athletics. “It’s a big year, but it’s a good way to start it.” Duplantis had almost broken the record at a meeting in Duesseldorf on Tuesday. His performance marks him out as a clear favourite for the Olympic title in Tokyo this year.