CLERMONT-FERRAND, France (Feb 22) – Sweden’s world pole vault record-holder Mondo Duplantis opened his 2026 campaign in style on Sunday (22), clearing a world-leading 6.06 meters at the All Star Perche indoor meeting despite battling illness days before the competition.
The 26-year-old Olympic and multiple world champion produced the highest clearance in the world this year at the World Athletics Indoor Tour Silver event, then made three attempts at improving his world record to 6.31m.
Australia’s two-time world bronze medallist Kurtis Marschall joined the elite six-meter club, clearing 6.00m on his first attempt to take second place before unsuccessful tries at 6.06m. Greece’s world silver medallist Emmanouil Karalis finished third with 5.90m.
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“This competition is very important to me,” Duplantis said in a broadcast interview. “The day before yesterday, I had a bad night with some throwing up. I’m glad that I could take some jumps and be able to win.”
Duplantis entered at 5.70m and cleared that and 5.90m on first attempts, then went over 6.06m on his third vault of the evening. His most recent world record of 6.30m came in September in Tokyo, where he claimed a third consecutive world title—his eighth senior global championship overall.
The Swede will next compete at the Mondo Classic in Uppsala on March 12 before defending his World Indoor Championships crown in Kujawy Pomorze, Poland, next month, and later targeting the new World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest in September.
In the women’s event, Czechia’s Amalie Svabikova captured victory on countback after she and Slovenia’s Tina Sutej both cleared 4.76m on their first attempts. Svabikova’s cleaner record gave her the win over Sutej, New Zealand’s Imogen Ayris, and France’s world indoor champion Marie-Julie Bonnin, who each recorded 4.76m—Ayris with a lifetime best and Bonnin with a new French record. All four failed at 4.82m.
Men’s Results – All Star Perche, Clermont-Ferrand
- Armand Duplantis (Sweden) – 6.06m WL
- Kurtis Marschall (Australia) – 6.00m PB
- Emmanouil Karalis (Greece) – 5.90m
- Ethan Cormont (France) – 5.80m SB
- Sam Kendricks (United States) – 5.80m SB
- KC Lightfoot (United States) – 5.80m
- Baptiste Thiery (France) – 5.80m
- Anthony Ammirati (France) – 5.70m SB
Women’s Results – All Star Perche, Clermont-Ferrand
- Amalie Svabikova (Czechia) – 4.76m SB
- Tina Sutej (Slovenia) – 4.76m
- Imogen Ayris (New Zealand) – 4.76m PB
- Marie-Julie Bonnin (France) – 4.76m NR
- Olivia McTaggart (New Zealand) – 4.70m SB
- Berenice Petit (France) – 4.50m
