The prospective world record height of 6.19m once again proved stubborn for Armand Duplantis at the All-Star Perche in Clermont-Ferrand but he concluded his indoor season by clearing six metres or higher for the fifth successive competition.
By clearing 6.01m on his first attempt, Duplantis became the first pole vaulter since Sergey Bubka in 1991 to surpass six metres in five consecutive competitions. He sought to create even more history by raising the bar to 6.19m but just as it was in Lievin on Wednesday, it was a case of close but not quite for the Swedish super-talent.
Mondo's indoor season:
— European Athletics (@EuroAthletics) February 23, 2020
1 6.00m Dusseldorf
1 6.17m WR Torun
1 6.18m WR Glasgow
1 6.07m Lievin
1 6.01m Clermont-Ferrand pic.twitter.com/v5A0DnKLr0
Duplantis soared over 6.01m on his first attempt and while he cleared an intermediate height of 6.07m in Lievin before raising the bar to 6.19m in Lievin, Duplantis - who was competing for the fifth time in three weeks - opted to go straight for the world record in Clermont-Ferrand.
His first attempt at 6.19m was exceptionally close. Duplantis had the requisite height but the 20-year-old dislodged the bar on his way down before two more solid attempts at the world record height.
“I cannot be disappointed not to break the world record today. Obviously I hoped to beat it again but I finish the winter with two world records and that is already very significant,” Duplantis told L’Equipe after his competition. “When you want to break a record, your jump must be perfect. Here I had some very good vaults but I was missing a little something.”
Armand Duplantis passe 6m01 !!! Il devient le premier athlète de l'histoire à enchaîner 5 concours consécutifs à plus de 6 mètres ! Jusqu'où ira le recordman du monde ? Réponse en direct sur RMC Sport 2 #AllStarPerche pic.twitter.com/iCyUTAEFZ8
— RMC Sport (@RMCsport) February 23, 2020
Renaud Lavillenie might have surrendered his world record to Duplantis earlier this month but the grand old man of the event showed glimpses of his finest form in front of his home fans yesterday.
Lavillenie, who is also the meeting organiser in Clermont-Ferrand, cleared 5.80m, 5.87m and 5.94m on his first attempts to finish second to Duplantis. His 5.94m clearance was his best vault indoors in four years, even surpassing his winning clearance of 5.90m at the 2018 World Indoor Championships.
This was the 149th time Lavillenie has cleared 5.80m or higher in a competition and he could reach the 150 mark at next weekend’s French Indoor Championships.
Two-time world outdoor champion Sam Kendricks from the United States cleared 5.87m to finish third. There were also notable performances by Ben Broeders who equalled his Belgian record with a 5.80m clearance and Great Britain's Harry Coppell who also matched his lifetime best of 5.80m.
In the women's competition, Sandi Morris cleared 4.80m on her third attempt before three unsuccessful tries at 4.93m. The best of the European contingent in action was Tina Sutej who raised her Slovenian record to 4.74m to finish third.
Full results here.