![\"No](\"https:\/\/static.toiimg.com\/thumb\/msid-129622879,imgsize-119042,width-400,resizemode-4\/mondo-duplantis.jpg\" "\\"Mondo")
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nMUMBAI: Fresh from breaking the world record for the 15th time, pole vault superstar Mondo Duplantis is excited about returning to the scene where his extraordinary sequence began. Torun, a city in north-central Poland, will host the world indoors from March 20-22. It\u2019s also where Duplantis etched his name in the record books for the first time in Feb 2020, representing a full-circle moment for an exceptionally gifted athlete who has absolutely dominated his sport in these six years. Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. <\/span>SUBSCRIBE NOW!<\/a>\u201cTorun is a very special place for me since I broke my first world record there,\u201d the two-time reigning Olympic champion told reporters during a call on Sunday. \u201cI\u2019ve been fortunate enough to break a few since then, but the first one\u2019s always a very life-changing moment.\u201cYou go from, in one instance, being not the world record holder, to the world record holder, which is one of my biggest childhood dreams. \u201cI\u2019m just really excited for it, honestly, especially after what I was able to do just now in Uppsala, which was, of course, really good.\u201dIf you missed out on Duplantis’s latest feat, the 26-year-old cleared the bar at 6.31m at his home meet, the Mondo Classic, last Thursday. It saw him extend his iron-clad grip on the world record he\u2019s held since eclipsing Frenchman Renaud Lavillenie\u2019s previous mark with a jump of 6.17m six years ago.The three-time indoor and outdoor world champion explained how tweaking his run-up by a couple of steps had played a key role in helping him control a stiffer pole while going for the 6.31m vault. \u201cThere was this one stiffer pole that I\u2019d never been able to really just get to work,\u201d he said. \u201cI just couldn’t really make it work at the weight that I like to jump at. And so I was able to make it work this past weekend.\u201cI did a little bit of a change with my approach and my run-up. I usually run from a 20-step approach and I moved it to a 22 step approach, which doesn\u2019t sound like that much of a difference, but it\u2019s actually quite different.\u201cI don\u2019t have speed data, but I think that I was clearly able to add some type of extra energy into the take-off because I was able to use that stiffer pole that I haven\u2019t been able to use for like four years.\u201dFor someone who has won 38 straight competitions, with defeat last coming in Aug 2023, Duplantis was asked if he fears that his incredible streak would come to an end. \u201cI never really had that problem,\u201d said the Swede. \u201cI think you can never have too much of a hubris and be over-confident when it comes to sports, and you can just never underestimate your opponents but also the sport itself.\u201cI know that whenever I do the things that I know that I can do, and I focus and I jump the way that I know that I can jump, then I do feel like I\u2019m the best one every time I step out onto the track.\u201dBut in \u201csuch a difficult sport\u201d, Duplantis stressed, \u201cthere\u2019s no slacking off \u201d. \u201cEspecially at this level, it\u2019s like I just always have to bring my A game. I never feel like it\u2019s just given to me,\u201d he said.As to how further, or higher, he could still go, Duplantis said the thrill for him simply lay in \u201cthe journey\u201d and \u201cpushing the envelope\u201d as long as he was competing.\u201cI just expect a certain level out of whatever I think is possible on the day, so I\u2019ll just keep pushing it, and as far as I can take it, then that\u2019ll be what it\u2019ll be,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n