Pole vault king Duplantis rules supreme as Bol grabs third Euro gold
MUNICH
World and Olympic pole vault champion Armand “Mondo” Duplantis retained his European title in comprehensive fashion in Munich on Aug. 20.
Duplantis, fresh from breaking his own world record in Eugene as he clinched world gold with 6.21 meters last month, set a championship record of 6.06m at the Olympic Stadium.
“It was great. The goal going into today was to try to win and breaking my own championship record was the cherry on the top,” Duplantis said.
Germany’s Bo Kanda Lita Baehre claimed silver with a best of 5.85m, while Norway’s Pal Haugen Lillefosse took bronze (5.75).
Coming into the continental showpiece, Duplantis was on an 18-competition winning streak and was once again a class apart from a field that struggled throughout in cool, damp conditions.
“I felt like I jumped very well, I can’t complain,” the Swede said, adding a shot at the world record was never likely.
“It didn’t seem like it was really on the cards today. Sometimes it’s like that, it’s not for every day.”
There was Dutch delight in the women’s 4x400m relay, Femke Bol producing an outstanding anchor leg to overtake Britain’s Nicole Yeargin and Belgian Camille Laus to seal victory and a third gold.
In arguably the most packed schedule of any athlete in Munich, Bol had already sealed an audacious double by winning the 400m flat and her favored 400m hurdles.
Bol, 22, took hold of the relay baton in third place on the fourth and final leg, biding her time before smoothly moving into the second lane and motoring away from her rivals.
“It was such an amazing race,” said Bol. “I really love to run with my girls and against other runners.
“This championship feels special to me.”
The Dutch quartet also featuring Eveline Saalberg, Lieke Klaver and Lisanne De Witte timed 3min 20.87sec for victory.
There was silver for Poland and bronze for Britain, whose male quartet took gold in the men’s 4x400m relay.
