Armand ‘Mondo’ Duplantis has been the recipient of the Men’s ‘Athlete of the Year’ award for two years, in 2020 and 2022. This year, the World Athletics Organization announced that Duplantis has once again made it as a finalist, which begs the question: will the Swedish-American pole vaulter be able to win it for two consecutive years?
It’s been a while since someone has won the award twice in a row. The last athlete to achieve this feat was Kenyan long-distance runner Eliud Kipchoge, who took home the award in both 2018 and 2019.
The Finalists
Joining Duplantis in the race for the prestigious accolade are India’s very own Neeraj Chopra, who specializes in Javelin throwing; Kenya’s long-distance runner Kelvin Kiptum, who recently broke the marathon world record; two athletes from USA, shot-put world champion Ryan Crouser; and finally, sprint king Noah Lyles, who specializes in 100m and 200m.
The World Athletics Organization released the names of the finalists on November 14. And as per their website, these athletes were chosen not just by the World Athletics Council and the World Athletics Family but also by the public, who had the opportunity to cast their votes through social media channels.
Does Duplantis have a chance?
According to Leighton Levy, a sports analyst, Mondo Duplantis, along with Noah Lyles and Ryan Crouser, emerged as the three front-runners for the award.
Duplantis had a ground-breaking season this year, as he continued to trounce on his own records and make a new one in pole vault competitions.
The 24-year-old pole vaulter first broke the record in 2020. He recorded an astounding height of 6.17 meters and smashed Lavillenie’s previous world record of 6.16 meters.
In the years that followed, Duplantis went on to break the record seven times in a period of three years, culminating in a 6.23 meters clearance at the prestigious Prefontaine Classic.
Via CNN:
“By the end of my career, I hope to definitely have the bar up there that I think is the highest that I could have possibly achieved,” said Duplantis after shattering his own record.
Cover Photo: IG