Teenager Duplantis out to supplant his older rivals

Continuing the rise that began with the 2015 World Youth Championships title, teenage pole vaulter Armand Duplantis has arrived in Doha as the man to watch out for. The 19-year-old Duplantis has his task cut out as five of the entrants in the IAAF World Athletics Championships’ have career-bests of 6m or better. Of the five, three, including defending champion Sam Kendricks, have scaled that height this year. Duplantis was the first, clearing 6.00m on May 11, to end his abbreviated college career as the NCAA record holder and becomes the only pole vaulter to clear six meters in a collegiate competition. With his newly familiar face looking wiser than his ludicrous age, Duplantis spent the Wednesday afternoon answering media persons questions about his future plans as a pole vaulter during a team reception organised by Embassy of Sweden in the presence of ambassador Anders Bengtcen. “Right now my focus is on the qualifying round. It’s not a fun of an answer, it’s a fact.  I am not in the finals, so why think about it?” said Duplantis.Duplantis turned pro this year and has a pair of 6.00m clearances to his credit, topping that height for the second time this year at the Sweden-Finland event on August 24. He has won eight of his 14 outdoor competitions including his last two, in Berlin’s ISTAF and the Europe-USA match in Minsk, topping 5.80m and 5.85m.“I’m ready for the jump. It took a while to be here for the world championship and I am excited to be here at last. It will be a great competition. I am taking it as a step by step. I am not trying to improve on anything which I have. I have confidence in my capability to take on everyone in the competition,” the reigning European champion said. The Louisiana-raised Swede, who holds a number of age-group world bests, broke the indoor junior record at the European Athletics Championships last year with this incredible attempt in Berlin.The Word No 2 vaulter entered the history books at the European Championships clearing a bar set at 5.95m - a junior world record - and he went on to join the six meter club with 6.05m, with only three others – Australian Steve Hooker (6.06m), Ukrainian Sergey Bubka (6.15m) and Frenchman Reanaud Lavillenie (6.16m WR) - ever having achieved this feat. His slow motion jump video was an incredible and mesmerising account of the skill, balance and bravery that these athletes demonstrate at the elite level of their discipline and it went viral on Internet. Duplantis, who first tried pole-vaulting as a four-year-old at the family’s home in Lafayette, Louisiana, also doesn’t believe in fretting over the future.“I also want to win everything, break all the records, but I am not thinking about the future. I am living in the present,” the overall World No 10 athlete said.The Swedish squad for the Worlds consists of 24 active athletes, 13 men and 11 women. Some are doing their first World Championships on a senior level while others are more experienced. In total, closer to 2,000 athletes from more than 200 countries will participate during the ten days in Doha.“It will be a truly exciting championship and the Swedish team is tight and strong. Many of the athletes have had great seasons and I am confident that everyone will give their utmost to perform their very best during the competitions,” said Sweden team leader Karin Torneklint. Female pole vaulter Angelica Bengtsson, who considers herself a good bet for a medal in the Doha worlds, says Sweden’s squad, especially the men, have come with big hopes of coming up with the best-ever show for many years.  “I think the Swedish team is quite strong and should be able to do better than the London worlds. We have Daniel and Mondo this time. And of course I am also a strong competitor,” she said.  “I think it is going to be an open event…with no one being a clear favourite. At a given height, one may win a medal or finish 11th. I feel I do have the capacity to do well. The competition is going to be very tough and interesting.”Bengtsson finished tied 4th at the 2015 World Championships in Beijing, but she is in fine touch this time is coming with Diamond league wins in Stockholm and Rome. “I split my season in three parts. First I did events. And then I went for a break. After that, I returned to the competition to get into the shape for the World Championships. There was a time when I thought I have reached my peak. But then I changed the coach and went back to my city for training in a homely atmosphere, which helped me raise my performance,” the 26-year-old vaulter said.The Sweden team’s training prior to the games has partly taken place in Ostia, outside of Rome in Italy, and also in Sweden and other places in Europe.As the event is being held late in the year due to the hot climate, Swedish Athletics together with Craft Sportswear developed thinner competition sports clothing and special designed cooling garments that will help cool down the Swedish contestants during the competition; e.g. a vest, a cap and a towel that keeps cool after being soaked in water and wrung. A T-shirt and a tank top that are part of the competition set are now in ultralight mesh-fabric to minimise the added heating effect from the clothes.One athlete who has already tested the gear is decathlete Fredrik Samuelsson, who will have two full days in the arena.“The vest and the towel are my favourites and I will use them during and between my events. It will be important to keep as cool as possible,” said Samuelsson.