Armand Duplantis: "I love to watch Femke Bol, when she's running on the track and we're pole vaulting, Ben Broeders will stop all the pole vaulters”
Armand Duplantis said that he liked to watch Femke Bol run and gave a hilarious reason behind this. In a recent interview with World Athletics, Duplantis answered this question for all curious fans.
Appearing on a segment titled “On The Cards” alongside fellow Athletes of the Year Noah Lyles, Faith Kipyegon, and Kelvin Kiptum The Swedish Olympic champion stated a bunch of his favorite athletes to watch.
He started by listing his fellow pole-vaulters, saying,
“[I enjoy watching] Sam Kendricks, I like to watch Renaud Lavillenie, I like the way Nina Kennedy is jumping, I like the way Katie Moon is jumping.”
He went on to add that since he sometimes trained with Belgium’s Ben Broeders, he also had the privilege of seeing World Champion Femke Bol run, who he enjoys watching.
“I also train part-time with Ben Broeders and his girlfriend Femke Bol, so I like to watch Femke run. When she's running on the track and we're pole-vaulting, Ben will stop all the pole-vaulters and make sure we're cheering her”
Armand Duplantis predicts Sha’Carri Richardson to win Olympic gold
Meanwhile, in the same interview, Armand Duplantis also listed who he thinks will be the gold medalist at the 2024 Paris Olympics. He named fellow athletes Sha'Carri Richardson and JaVaughn Harrison as contenders for the top spot on the podium in their respective events.
While Duplantis and Richardson now compete under different flags and can be considered resembling rivals, the duo happen to be fast friends, going back a long way.
The two World Champions first met in 2018, when both were enrolled at the Louisiana State University as freshmen and budding athletes. After four years on the same team, the two left the college as NCAA Champions and close friends.
The two of the most popular track and field athletes often cheer for each other at events, despite being from competing nations. Richardson was there rooting for Armand Duplantis at the 2023 World Athletics Championships when he was trying to chase down his second title.
Later, Duplantis noted that Richardson and him becoming champions in the same year was special, saying:
“For us to be here and both win the world championships in the same year, feeling like it was just yesterday we were both in college together, it’s pretty nice.”