Pole vault sensation Armand 'Mondo' Duplantis, crowned World Sportsman of the Year at the Laureus Awards, says no competitor in history could match him jump for jump.
"I don't think that there's ever been anybody in the history either that could line up with me and go jump for jump with me," the 25-year-old Swede told Olympics.com on Friday.
"I have the confidence in my abilities to where, if there's anybody going to line up on the track against me, and it comes to pole vaulting, I'm the best one out there."
🏆 Mondo Duplantis is the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year#Laureus25 pic.twitter.com/MZp1q2q5Dg
— Laureus (@LaureusSport) April 21, 2025
With two Olympic gold medals and 11 world records to his name, the Swede's swagger is backed by substance. His winning streak, which stretches back to July 2023, stands at 28 consecutive victories.
But even as he soars above his contemporaries, Duplantis acknowledges the towering legacy of Ukrainian Sergey Bubka - the 1988 Olympic champion who rewrote the record books 35 times - while stopping short of a direct comparison.
"I'm still pretty young and I think I might need a bit more longevity to match a career like Bubka's, because he was able to jump at such a high level for such a long time," Duplantis, who makes his outdoor season debut at the Xiamen Diamond League meeting in China this weekend, added.
How much higher will he go? 👀@mondohoss600 accepted his Laureus Sportsman of the Year Award with a message to the world: he’s not done yet 😮💨
— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) April 23, 2025
Catch him back in action this Saturday at the Xiamen #DiamondLeague...where he broke the first of three world records last year 👀 pic.twitter.com/ZMlMXcXSp2
The record-breaker, whose last mark of 6.27 metres was set at the All Star Perche meeting in Clermont-Ferrand, France, in February, sees his extraordinary achievements as simply waypoints on his journey.
"I understand pole vaulting and I know that I'm not going to break the world record every time I compete. But I know the times when I have a good chance.
"For me, it's just a journey. It's just trying to improve myself. I like records. But I think that I'm more obsessed with just being the best version of myself," Duplantis added.