Eugene. Two jumps, then Mondo Duplantis was ready for the final.
The frontrunner was convincing in the preliminaries where the biggest technical issues actually lie with Father Greg.
– It actually relieves stress a little bit, laughs Mondo’s typical “father with technology moment.”
It was a non-tragic evening as Mundo Duplantis wanted in the pole qualifiers. Board Hayward Field at 16:00 local time to jump. At 18.43 he was ready for the finals – after making only two jumps in competition.
5.65 scan in the first. That hike cleared another 16 players, so Duplantis also jumped 5.75 to cement his place in the finals.
Two jumps, just like the plan. Then save as much energy as possible, he says as he rolls his little bag across the mixed zone.
Adrenaline hits hard.
Two jumps in three hours, is qualifying that way boring?
– I don’t know if it’s boring, but qualifying is something you have to do. It’s not that fun. It’s great to get to the final so I can’t complain.
On the first jump of 5.65, Duplantis mashed up the shaft and made a slightly uncontrolled ride over the bar.
– It was a good jump, but I was a little faster than I had imagined when I put the shaft in the box. Such a situation where the adrenaline hits the restroom a little harder than I thought. Duplantis, who considers it a very good sign, says:
– I used a stiffer shaft on the second jump and feel the final will be a situation where I have to use a stiffer shaft than I did before. That’s okay, stiffer bars mean higher ride heights.
How many bars do you have?
– I have another one, but it should be enough for everything I want to try.
Her favorite medal by far
After a jump of 5.65 the only small hurdle appeared in qualifying. SVT cameras were captured when Father Greg was showing hope to a frog – without success.
– It’s my mother’s iPad and he didn’t even know the password. He tried opening with facial recognition and I asked him if he got in his face because otherwise it wouldn’t work… he didn’t but such a thing relieves the pressure a bit. Typical “dad with technology moment”.
The only jumper besides Duplantis who was visible in the final was the top competitor (only?) in the final, Chris Nielsen of the United States.
Many of the other big names were tougher. Three-time WC medalist Piotr Lisek vanished at 5.65. A height that Rhino Lavilleni and Thiago Braz managed to achieve only in the last attempt.
Former world record holder Renaud Lavillenie got 5.75 at the second attempt and led like Thiago Braz. Norway’s Paul Haugen Lilfuss also saved her in the final round at 5.75, thus becoming the second Norwegian in the final with Sondry Guttormsen.
In the end, there were only twelve men above 5.75.
The final match will be decided on Monday night.
