Mondo Duplantis
Mondo Duplantis was voted The International Sports Press Association (AIPS) sportsman of the year in 2025 (also in 2024). In an AIPS press conference he reacted to his year and the award
Thoughts on the 2025 World Championships?
Well, it was a very long and tiring competition, I would say. And, usually these competitions for us take, over three hours. And this was this year it was especially difficult because Emmanouil Karalis, the Greek athlete was jumping so well and he was pushing higher and higher. He jumped all the way up until 6.20, which is very unusual. It’s never happened to me before. I’ve never had anybody that has pushed me that hard and jumped that long with me. So it was a few more jumps at the higher bars than I’ve ever really had to take before attempting a world record. And so I had to dig deep and I had to really find an extra type of gear inside of myself because I was getting a little bit tired towards the end. But I just felt ‘I’ve done this a few times’. I think I had a little bit of a similar situation that probably helped me a lot in Tokyo with Stockholm, where I really didn’t feel like it was the most perfect day for me physically or the way I felt just in my body and all that. So I just tried to really, really, really, really kind of lock my feet in and just get the best jump out of myself that I could, whether it’s through just this crazy hard-core visualization or just focusing on something small to make everything as fluid as I possibly could. I think on the last attempt I really dug deep and got everything that I could out of myself.
Being sportsman of the year twice in a row must be special?
It’s unbelievable, honestly. I’m really appreciative. So thanks, everybody that’s on this call for voting for me, showing me love and support. I am I just really appreciative. I try my best always to be the best version of myself that I possibly can be. Ever since I was just a little kid, three years old, jumping in my parents’ backyard, with just my father and I going out there and jumping. I had these huge dreams that I could be the best in the world someday, and I could just push the barriers of what’s possible in our sport. I never thought any of this would come, and I never thought I could win crazy titles and crazy awards like this. But, I’m very appreciative of it. Really just thankful, honestly.
Last year we were talking about 6.30 being possible. Now you have 6:30. What is next? Because the problem is now that the next big step is 6.40.
It’s coming, I think. The natural progression of things, you’d probably take a few steps to get to 6.40, but I think that I’m definitely on my way. I feel like I’ve showed myself also just physically and technically that, the 6.40 bar is very possible. It’s not something that I would say is just gonna happen automatically, magically. Probably not even in 2026, but it’s something that I have within my capabilities for my career. And then we’ll see. I’m just gonna try to keep pushing it one at a time and see where I can get. And basically, that’s where my mind’s at right now. I don’t think so extremely far into the future, honestly, less than you could probably imagine, I think very much one season at a time. Right now I have the indoor season coming up, starting in the end of February. I am just going to have a short and sweet three-meet indoor season. And for me, that’s really the only thing that I’m worried about and focused about. And I just go from there. I’ll just see if I can push one up there high in the beginning, and then we just keep pushing forward.
Yes, but till now we have used a pole of 5.20? Do you think that to go to 6.40 you have to use a pole of a 5.25 or something and to have a higher grip or is the pole that you have now sufficient?
Maybe, maybe. Probably going to have to be a few centimetres higher grip. You’re going to have a little bit of a stiffer pole. But that’s going to require a few things from my side, such as more speed, more efficient energy transfer from the take-off, run to the take-off, and just I little things like that. So I just need to get a little bit better in that kind of way. And just really at the end of the day, just physically is the most important thing. It’s just trying to put as much energy as I possibly can into the poles. and into the take-off. So that’s going to allow me to grip a little bit higher or to use a little bit stiffer poles, and in turn, those will throw me up in the air higher.
If you would choose the best sportsman of 2025, not yourself, who would you choose?
Yeah. that’s a good question maybe Carlos Alcaraz. I pick him or Jannick Sinner I was watching tennis a little bit this year I haven’t watched that much tennis historically but this year I just was watching it more. I really enjoyed just them to watching them battle it out all day every day that was that was one of my favourite things of the year. I think Alcaraz. Honestly. I think that’s the way we have my vote. So, because he’s an awesome guy and an amazing tennis player. I love watching him.
