"This dude was super cocky" - Mondo Duplantis explains why his younger self wouldn't be surprised by his unprecedented success

By Zahid Rashid Dar

Modified Nov 21, 2024 16:35 GMT

Mondo Duplantis shared that his 11-year-old self wouldn't be surprised at the level of success he had achieved in his career. The Swede is arguably the greatest pole vaulter in history, having lowered the world record by nearly 10 metres.

Duplantis' father is a former American pole vaulter, who has cleared a career-best height of 5.80m while his mother is a former heptathlete and volleyball player. The 25-year-old was interested in athletics from a young age and followed in the footsteps of his father when he tried pole vaulting for the first time as a 4-year-old.

Three years after pole vaulting for the first time, Duplantis set his first age group record when he was seven. He has since been writing and rewriting the record books and has broken the men's senior world record a staggering 10 times so far.

However, the two-time Olympic champion doesn't think his younger self would have been surprised at his unprecedented success. Duplantis explained that he was a confident kid growing up and aspired to win the whole world.

"He really wouldn't be surprised. This dude was super cocky and confident. The little kid that really wanted the world," he said.

The 25-year-old was shown a picture of him from an event in 2010 and expressed amazement over where he had reached in the last decade and a half.

"Remember like it was yesterday. It's crazy to think about this and then now where I am but everything goes just so fast in the blink of an eye," he added.

Duplantis concluded his 2024 season at the Diamond League Finals in Brussels, winning the trophy for the fourth straight season with an impressive jump of 6.11m.

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"I would like to jump over 6.30m” - Mondo Duplantis

Wanda Diamond League 2024 Final - Mondo Duplantis jumps 6.11m for win (Source: Getty)

Before Mondo Duplantis broke onto the professional scene, no man in history had jumped higher than 6.16m but the Swede has since lowered the world record by nearly 10 metres and still isn't done yet.

Speaking in an interview with Olympics.com, the 25-year-old said he wanted to jump over 6.30m.

“I know I can jump higher, and I want to jump a lot higher,” he said.

“I would like to jump over 6.30m," Mondo Duplantis added.

With the form Duplantis showed last season, he may well be very close to achieving that mark in the 2025 season. The Olympic champion broke the world record thrice in his 2024 season, achieving 6.26m for his 10th record at the Silsea Diamond League.