Mondo Duplantis finally has new rival that could stop his unique world record streak after Ultimate Championship
Mondo Duplantis has won the inaugural men's pole vault event at the World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest - but he was pushed all the way by his new rival.
Duplantis cleared a mark of 6.20 metres to win the gold medal, before narrowly failing to clear a new world record margin of 6.32.
The Swede famously attempts to clear 0.01 metres more at every major tournament and has broken the world record 15 times - though he now has a genuine rival in the form of Greece's Emmanouil Karalis.
Could Mondo Duplantis' world record streak be ended?
Duplantis, who was born in the United States but represents Sweden through his mother, has won every international competition - across Olympics, World Championships, World Indoor Championships and European Championships - since 2021. Put simply, if Duplantis turns up, he wins.
READ NEXT: Why Mondo Duplantis picked Sweden over USA despite being born in Louisiana
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Before Duplantis, the world record was held by France's 2012 Olympic champion Renaud Lavillenie, who cleared 6.16 metres at an event in Ukraine in 2014.
Since Duplantis, the record has been increased to 6.31 - effectively a figure that only the Swede could ever hope to clear.
Now, there is Karalis. The Greek pole vaulter was one of the top athletes in the world at the Paris 2024 Olympics, and cleared 5.90 metres to claim the bronze medal.
But there has been significant progression over the past 12 months.
After clearing 6.08 metres in August 2025 - setting a new Greek national record in the process - Karalis has beaten that mark on three occasions, most recently clearing 6.20 metres at a meeting in Zurich last month.
He managed 6.15 in the Ultimate Championship final. And while Duplantis would undoubtedly have won by a clearer margin if he wasn't attempting a world record, Karalis' rapid progress might make him think twice about going for more attempts when they battle closely in the future.
Why Duplantis has broken world record so many times
According to Forbes, Duplantis specifically attempts to clear an additional mark of 0.01 metres every time he competes in order to spread out his world record attempts.
That is because each athlete is said to receive $100,000 each time a world record is broken. The Ultimate Championship is sanctioned by World Athletics, which is why Duplantis attempted the record on Friday evening.
The payout can only be received once per event, however, which is another reason why Duplantis' records aren't achieved as often as they otherwise might be. BBC reported that his sponsors, Puma, also offer world record bonuses to their athletes.
Speaking about how difficult it is to clear such marginal increases in height, he told Red Bull in 2025: "It's so marginal, but makes more of a difference than you can imagine.
"Even if it's one centimetre, it gets to a certain point where you hit it and it suddenly becomes so much more difficult."
Topics: Athletics
Ryan Smart