Mondo Duplantis Dominates Pole Vault with Record-Breaking 2025 Season and Pursues Future in Music and Sports Leadership
In 2025, Mondo Duplantis solidified his status as the world’s leading pole vaulter by breaking the world record four times and winning all 16 competitions he entered.
He retained both the indoor and outdoor world titles and was voted World Athletics’ male athlete of the year. Duplantis was also named BBC’s overseas personality of the year.
A viral moment from the Paris Olympics showed him kissing his fiancée, Desire Inglander, after breaking a world record, significantly boosting his global profile.
At the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo, Duplantis broke the world record on his final jump with an astonishing 6.30m vault, again celebrating with Inglander. This achievement was aided by a faster shoe known as "the Claw," with its Mark II version in development and expected to assist him in clearing heights beyond 6.40m.
Duplantis attributes his dominance to his speed on the runway and energy transfer during vaults. He works closely with fellow athlete Karsten Warholm and coach Leif Olav Alnes for equipment testing and development.
At 26 years old, Duplantis holds 14 world records and foresees the potential for roughly 10 more, as well as additional Olympic titles by the age of 33.
Alongside athletics, he pursues a budding music career. His songs "Bop" and "4L" have garnered over two million and 1.2 million Spotify plays respectively, with a third single due in January and rumors he may perform the official song for the World Athletics Ultimate Championship in September.
While music serves as an escape, he remains fully focused on athletics. Duplantis also enjoys golf, maintaining a handicap of 11, but plans to choose one main hobby to balance with his athletic career and impending marriage.
Looking ahead, Duplantis contemplates a future in sports politics, joking that he could follow in the footsteps of Seb Coe and possibly pursue World Athletics presidency to help grow the sport of track and field.
