Eugene. It was at Eugene Mundo Duplantis rose to the global elite in earnest five years ago.
Then it was a teenager with big eyes who first met the idol Rhino Lavilleni. Now he’s back to take the only medal he lost.
– I only see myself with a gold medal, he says.
Mundo is still at the orphanage in Lafayette as we speak. There in the 40-degree heat, he makes his final touches before the World Cup. In the back is a message from 6.16 from the Stockholm stadium and the usual self-confidence.
– It’s very cold, Stockholm has proven that I am in very good shape, that I can jump very high, he says.
He and his father, Greg Duplantis, had their first real jump session after the stadium’s success on Tuesday and the news was good.
– He’s in really good shape now, he’s jumped really well and focused, says Greg.
‘Not the same league’
Mundo is believed to have gone out more than the World Cup.
– It gets a little faster, a little sharper, he says, telling that in the shaft bag there is a stiffer shaft than the one with which Mundo jumped in Stockholm, and also broke the world record, 6.20.
He hasn’t tried it, but he doesn’t care. It is one of his true strengths mentally. He just takes the next, stiffer, rod and jumps. He’s been doing this since he was a little kid.
Mental strength is also required to deal with the press as everyone expects you to win. But Mundo says the Olympics have been somewhat weakened by all the other press.
– It’s not even close to the Olympics, it’s been a completely different league when it comes to journalism. I’m not saying it looks like an ordinary competition but it doesn’t compare to the Olympics.
The fact that the World Cup is being held in the United States adds to the situation quite a bit. During the Olympics, many critical voices reappeared from fans in the country who believed Mundo should have chosen the United States. Greg Duplantis says the audience in the United States is also very different from in Europe.
– People here view athletics differently. I don’t know how they would react, if they were to encourage it. But I really think he wants to show off.
Do you think they could turn against him?
– I think there are some, or I know there are some who are thinking of things. We have met some people who are very upset about this.
– My answer is always the same, “What do you think of Ashton Eaton?”.
Greg with his fan test
Eaton is a two-time Olympic champion, two-time World Cup gold medalist and former world record holder in decathlon. But the few who are angry about Duplante’s national election rarely know.
– They never know who he is. Ashton who? They answer. It’s a small test. They don’t care enough about the sport to know who Ashton is but Mundo will still pick his career so they can cheer for five seconds when he wins…
Mondo laughs when he hears shortly afterwards of Greg’s concerns about the audience in Eugene.
– I have no idea how it would be. It’s something completely out of my control. I kind of grew up in Louisiana, it’s far from Oregon. It wouldn’t feel like I’m home jumping, to me like another country – even if it’s fun with the World Cup in the USA.
However, Eugene has a natural place in the chronology of Duplante’s career. This is where he made his first competition against the global elite of the Diamond League. It was also the first time that the Sportbladet and the undersigned have met Duplantis. Before the competition, we paired the 17-year-old with childhood idol Renaud Lavillenie for a joint interview.
“Just be a kid”
“I can’t describe how unrealistic it is to compete against someone like Renault,” he said then.
Now he laughs at the memory.
– I remember that, it was so much fun. These were really my first steps in a career. I finished 4th, so I hope to do a little better here. Seeing how far you’ve come in five years is so much fun.
Yes, it’s easy to forget that this only happened five years ago. Since then, Duplantis has won European Championships, IVM, Olympics and IEM, broke a number of world records and finished second in the World Cup.
What was the biggest difference between the two of you then and now you can tell?
Anyone going from 17 to 22 can say that you are growing a lot as a person. I was just a kid then. Sure, I was cool and had a lot of talent but I was just a young teen. I don’t know if I’ve become a real adult but I’m more mature now.
Now the circuit can end with a World Cup gold and a full medal set in the same place where his career began. When we ask Greg Duplantis if there is anything that could stop his son from taking gold, he hesitates first before saying that “anything can happen in a pole vault.” The winds can shift, rain can start pouring at exactly the wrong moment and so on.
– But yes, the weather must be really bad in this case. In Oslo, he jumped six meters in really bad weather.
Mondo is more straightforward when asked if there is anything that can stop him. He takes a short break and then answers:
– number. There is no such scenario in my head. I only see first place and a gold medal. He says I feel good, if I do my best, it will be fine.