A week after claiming the World Cup gold and world record at the IAAF World Championships in Eugene, Armand Duplantis’ pole vaulting hit was celebrated in a crowded Avesta arena. Duplantis spent several summers in the city.
When I was a kid, I never imagined being able to stand a stand in front of so many people. It’s hard to understand, says the pole vaulting star.
Armand Duplantis grew up in Avesta in the summer. His grandfather Lars-Ike Hedlund helped found the local athletics club IK Stål in the 1950s. His mother, Helena Duplantis, was educated in athletics at Avesta before she went to the United States and got married.
“Like a fairy tale”
Since summers in Avesta, Armand Duplantis has the fondest memories of his childhood.
– We were out of the cabin, where we lived, and fished while I was growing up. It was like a fairy tale, says Armand Duplantis, remembering how much the athletics environment at Avista meant to him as a child. His first Swedish club was IK Stål.
– When I pole-jumped in the States, I was very lonely. I was just with mom and dad. Here at Avesta they had a team and it gave me a lot of energy. It felt like I was on a soccer team, says Duplantis.
It had long been planned that he would receive a plaque on the Avesta Walk of Fame, alongside highway driver Tony Rickardson and hockey player Niklas Liedstrom, who also comes from Avesta. But the pandemic has yet to make the celebration possible, a week after Duplante’s World Cup success.
“Cooked and Baked Airplane”
Armand Duplantis was a bit runaway when he arrived in Avista on Sunday. The time difference between USA and Sweden is 7 hours.
– The plane landed in Sweden on Tuesday and hasn’t done much since. At first I slept mostly. I was too late to fly and maybe a little late. He says I am trying to come back.
The star says he was overwhelmed by a lot of people when they came. In the foreground sat his grandfather Lars ke Hedlund, his grandmother Ingrid Hedlund, as well as his mother, aunt, sister, girlfriend, and many friends from Avesta.
– When I was here in Avesta before, as a kid, I never would have imagined being able to stand on a podium in front of so many people. It’s hard to understand he says, Duplants.
