By Nirendra Dev
US-born Armand Duplantis won Gold for his country Sweden in Pole Vault but missed narrowly the major milestone of setting a new world record. The sports of ‘Pole Vault’ came in his genes, and there’s more to it !
There was perhaps also a minor debate on why he is representing Sweden and not the US. Quizzed about this, he said: “It was chill in the beginning. But I think may be now it would be worse”.
Of course, in his journey to win Gold, he beat an American only.
Always a smiling man, Duplanits is 21-year old and during the encounter for prestigious Olympic Gold was always seen interacting joyfully with his competitors and virtually exchanging notes.
After his Gold win and having narrowly missed New World Record, Duplantis spoke in Swedish answering questions from journalists and remarked: “I wear Sweden across my chest and I do it proudly”.
Many Americans perhaps did not know that Duplanits’s mom Helena is from Sweden and dad – an American – from Louisiana. That’s right – he had dual citizenship.
His father Greg was an All-America pole vaulter and mother Helena played volleyball and had also competed in hepthalon on the track.
According to ‘USA Today’, home videos show Duplantis used to try pole vaulting at the age of 4 !
One more small info, both his parents were at the Olympic Stadium on Tuesday evening because they both ‘officially coach’ him.
After the Gold Win, many from Swedish press persons were surprised as he started interacting with them in Swedish.