This year’s European Athletics Championships will be held in Berlin, Germany, and it is evident that Duplantis has been on fire. He is certainly the “One to Watch” in the men’s pole vault competition.
Last month, Duplantis won the gold medal in the IAAF World U20 Championships, also known as the World Junior Championships, where he set a championship record of 5.82 meters. He raised his own world junior record to 5.93 meters this outdoor season, which is the third-best performance this year right behind world record holder Renaud Lavillenie (5.95 meters) and reigning world champion Sam Kendricks (5.96 meters).
Duplantis’ biggest competition at the 2018 European Championships will be Frenchman Renaud Lavillenie, who also holds the world record in the sport (6.16 meters, indoors); however, Duplantis has proved on multiple occasions this summer that he has the ability to beat Lavillenie.
At the IAAF Diamond League event in Stockholm, Duplantis even triumphed over Kendricks, thus leaving the American in second place.
Overall, the men’s pole vault competition at the 2018 European Athletics Championships will be quite interesting to watch. Look for it to be a neck-to-neck race between Duplantis and Lavillenie, as they take on a lot of other great pole vaulters from Europe. It is certainly the field event with the strongest competitors.
