CLERMONT-FERRAND, France (Feb 21) – Olympic and world pole vault champion Armand “Mondo” Duplantis is set to begin his 2026 indoor campaign at Sunday’s All Star Perche, part of the World Athletics Indoor Tour Silver series, in Clermont-Ferrand. Defending champion on the women’s side, Angelica Moser of Switzerland, a two-time European indoor gold medalist, was set to open her campaign at the meeting, but has withdrawn.
The Swedish star returns to familiar ground, having twice broken the world record at this same meet. Duplantis cleared 6.22m in 2023 and improved to 6.27m in 2024, before raising his own global mark again in Tokyo last year with a 6.30m vault — his fourth record of 2025.
Duplantis plans a short indoor circuit this year that includes the Mondo Classic in Uppsala on March 12, followed by the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Kujawy Pomorze from March 20–22, where he will chase a fourth consecutive indoor title. Duplantis is a two-time Olympic champion, six-time world champion, and a four-time European.
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While the prospect of another world record is never far when Duplantis takes to the runway, his first objective in Clermont-Ferrand will be victory. He will face a formidable field led by Olympic bronze medalist Emmanouil Karalis of Greece, Australia’s Kurtis Marschall, U.S. record-holder KC Lightfoot, and Olympic silver medallist Sam Kendricks. The French challenge is spearheaded by Baptiste Thiery, Ethan Cormant, and Anthony Ammirati.
Karalis poses the strongest threat to Duplantis after a breakout 2025 season in which he cleared 6.00m or higher 12 times, including a 6.08m clearance at the Greek Championships — ranking him fourth all time behind Duplantis, Renaud Lavillenie, and Sergey Bubka. The 26-year-old continued his fine form in 2026, recording the first 6.00m vault of the year in Liévin on February 16 and narrowly missing 6.07m.
The women’s competition in Clermont-Ferrand features Slovenia’s Tina Sutej, unbeaten in three starts this year. Sutej, 37, has vaulted 4.80m, just short of her 2023 national record, and enters as the favorite ahead of France’s Marie-Julie Bonnin, last year’s world indoor champion, and Czechia’s Amalie Svabíková, fourth at the 2025 World Championships.
