Armand “Mondo” Duplantis has become the first man to win four consecutive world indoor pole vault titles, after he claimed gold in the men’s event at the 2026 World Athletics Indoor Championships in Toruń on Saturday (21 March) with a new championship record.
After Australia’s Kurtis Mascharll cleared 6.00m to claim bronze, the contest for gold came down to Duplantis and Greece’s Emmanouil Karalis.
Karalis, feeling confident from his lifetime best of 6.17 set at his home championships just weeks earlier, passed at 6.10 and 6.15m. Duplantis however, cleared both heights at the first attempt.
But after Karalis failed with his first attempt at 6.20m, Duplantis raised the bar to 6.25, which he cleared at the first attempt to break his own previous championship record of 6.20m from Belgrade 2022.
Karalis ultimately settled for silver behind the Swede for a third consecutive World Championships, after unsuccessful attempts at 6.25m.
He also claimed silver at at the World Indoor Championships Nanjing 2025 and World Athletic Championships Tokyo 2025.
