TOKYO :Mondo Duplantis says the key to his pole vault domination in recent years is his speed on the runway and, unlike most of his predecessors in the event, he wears specially-developed sprinting spikes to enhance it.
Duplantis chalked up his 13th world record when he cleared 6.29 metres last month and will be seeking a third successive world title in Tokyo next week.
Speaking at a Puma event in the city on Thursday, the Swede said he has long had a close involvement in the evolution of his shoes.
“It’s super-important from the innovation side and I’ve been so thankful to the Puma family for letting me just have a really big voice in what I want and what I need,” he said.
“It’s such a different shoe that I compete in now from the first shoe that we had. I really like the development of the nitrofoam, but also just the shape and everything that’s needed for me.”
Analysis from the event has shown that Duplantis approaches the bar way faster than any of his rivals, only two of whom – Emmanouil Karalis and Chris Nilsen – have even cleared six metres this season.
“It’s very obvious that the one who is fastest on the runway and creates the most energy, that’s probably the one who is going to jump the highest,” said Duplantis, who was brought up in the U.S. but represents the country of his mother, a former Swedish international heptathlete.
“Historically the pole vault spike was super-flat and I think people were too hyperfixated maybe on the takeoff point and kind of miscalculated versus the speed.
“I take 20 steps, and that’s only the last step. So really it was just making it almost into a sprint spike with a little bit of a modification for a pole vault sole for that extra support for the takeoff.”
‘BUSINESS TIME’
Eagle-eyed fans wondering if Duplantis will go for the world record in Tokyo, as he did at the Paris Olympics last year, should focus on his feet to see if he is sporting the “claw” version of his spikes that come out for special occasions.
“I could really feel the benefit from the very beginning, just that extra little, tiny grip and the way that I’m able to push in the first few steps and build up speed with it,” he said of the claw.
“Sometimes I catch my hand on like the inversion part of the jump so if you ever see blood on me it’s because of that. So that’s why I don’t do it every time, but when they come out, then you know it’s business time.”
Duplantis showed off his natural speed last year when he beat Norwegian 400m hurdles world record holder Karsten Warholm over 100 metres, clocking a more than respectable 10.37 seconds.
“I showed you a little bit that I’m ‘ish-capable’ of something, I really did enjoy it,” he said of the event.
“I do mostly sprint training and I just sprinkle some pole vault in because I’ve vaulted for a lifetime already, so the sprint is the main focus of me trying to get better.”
However, the 25-year-old dismissed any suggestion that he could switch to the track more seriously, despite loving his outings.
“I think the best, most primal, amazing feeling in the whole world is sprinting,” he said. “That split-second before the gun goes off, I think it’s the most crazy bundle of energy in the whole world.”
