Real reason why Mondo Duplantis only improves his world record 1cm at a time

Posted by

Mondo Duplantis broke the world record at the Diamond League meeting in Stockholm. 

The Swedish star is arguably one of the greatest athletes of all time. He has broken the pole vault record for the 12th time in his career.

He cleared 6.28 metres, while second-placed Kurtis Marschall cleared 5.90m.

What has been really interesting is that he keeps breaking records by just 1 cm, although he can try to score bigger margins.

He has been breaking records since 2020 and has maintained the record of surpassing the previous one by a single centimetre every time.

In the pole vault, an athlete decides the height at which they want to compete and must attempt it in three tries.

After that, he can choose any height. This means the Swiss decide carefully on the length of the height. And there’s a theory why he does so.

According to Forbes, each athlete receives $100,000 when they break the world record.

The sum is paid every time when someone breaks the world record.

The 2024 Olympic gold medal winner has earned $1.2 million in the last five years, as he continues to break his own records.

The only condition is that the amount can only be paid once per meeting.

Forbes noted: “An athlete such as Duplantis who recognises this understands that they can maximise their financial return by waiting to break the world record again.”

That is why he jumps only a centimetre higher. He is only 25, and he can clear bigger numbers in the coming years.

More Stories Mondo Duplantis