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WATCH: USA-born Swede Mondo Duplantis stands in reverence during the American national anthem at Paris Olympics 2024
Mondo Duplantis was recently seen honoring the USA anthem at the 2024 Paris Olympics. The Swedish-American pole vaulter honored the USA national anthem during the men's 100m medal ceremony. Duplantis, whose father Greg is American and mother Helena is Swedish, was born in Lafayette, Louisiana, USA.
Noah Lyles of the USA clinched the gold medal in the men's 100m after clocking a stunning time of 9.79 (.784) seconds to claim victory with a razor-thin margin over Kishane Thompson who posted 9.79 (.789) seconds. Although the race was held on August 4, 2024, the medal ceremony was slated for the following day, while the pole vaulters lined up for their final event.
Following Lyles' felicitation, the USA's national anthem, "The Star-Spangled Banner" was played in the stadium. Duplantis was seen paying his tribute to the American national anthem at that moment. Similar to his fellow athlete Sam Kendricks, Duplantis placed his right hand on his left chest and acknowledged the anthem.
Duplantis initially wanted to represent the USA on the international stage but after being persuaded by former Swedish young coach Jonas Anshlem, joined the Scandinavian country's team.
He attended Louisiana State University alongside Sha'Carri Richardson, where they both commenced their journey in 2018 and were also nominated as finalists for the prestigious Bowerman Award.
"For the small country that Sweden is there were damn a lot of flags" - Mondo Duplantis expresses his gratitude toward Swedish fans following his record-breaking performance at Paris Olympics
Mondo Duplantis clinched the gold medal in the men's pole vault event after setting a staggering world record height of 6.25m.
His nearest competitors were the USA's Sam Kendricks and Greece's Emmanouil Karalis, who recorded 5.95 and 5.90m, respectively. Duplantis broke his previous record of 6.24m set in April 2024 during the Xiamen Diamond League.
In a post-event press conference, he expressed his gratitude to the Swedish fans who were present in large numbers at the Stade de France, acknowledging their love and admiration.
"I mean I hope they're proud because I'm definitely proud and I'm proud of what I did. I'm proud of the way that I represented and I mean... I think that I've received more love and support than I could have ever imagined," he said [0:52.]
"I mean for the small country that Sweden is there were damn a lot of flags, Swedish flags, and Swedish people in the stands out of that 70,000."
With this victory, Duplantis successfully defended his Olympic title secured at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
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