World-renowned pole vaulter Duplantis achieves a record-breaking leap of 6.29 meters, establishing a new global pole vault record.
Mondo Duplantis Breaks Pole Vault World Record for the 13th Time
Mondo Duplantis, the reigning pole vault world champion, made history once again on August 12, 2025, at the Istvan Gyulai Memorial meet in Budapest. The Swedish athlete broke the world record for the 13th time, setting a new mark of 6.29 meters (20 ft 7+1⁄2 in).
Duplantis has been consistently pushing the boundaries of pole vault, often improving his own record by small increments of one centimeter. This exceptional level of repeated record-breaking has solidified his status as one of the greatest pole vaulters of all time.
In the same event, Greece's Emmanouil Karalis finished a distant second with a clearance of 6.02m.
Meanwhile, in other athletics events, Jamaican sprinter Bryan Levell won the men's 200m race with a time of 19.69, setting the third-fastest time this year. Levell improved on Erriyon Knighton's meeting record by 0.19 seconds in the race. Wayde van Niekerk finished as a distant runner-up with a time of 20.07.
In the women's 100m race, Ivorian sprinter Marie-Josee Ta Lou Smith took the victory, with Tina Clayton and world 200m champion Shericka Jackson finishing second and third respectively. Olympic champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce finished fourth.
In the men's 400m race, Muzala Samukonga won with a season's best time of 44.11. The Olympic bronze medallist held off Jereem Richards and Khaleb McRae to secure the victory.
Australia's Kurtis Marschall finished third in the pole vault competition with a clearance of 5.83m. Duplantis won the competition with a clearance of 6.11m on his first attempt.
Laban Kipkorir Chepkwony also made history in the men's 800m race, setting a personal best time of 1min 42.96sec to break David Rudisha's meeting record from 2016.
Since 1985, the world record for pole vault has been broken 26 times, with Duplantis accounting for 13 of those improvements. The Swedish athlete is now favored for a third consecutive outdoor world title in Tokyo. He previously cleared 6.27m in Clermont-Ferrand in 2025.
[1] Istvan Gyulai Memorial meet results, August 12, 2025
[2] World Athletics record book
[3] BBC Sports News
- Despite Mondo Duplantis's pole vault world record-breaking performance, the men's tennis competition at the Istvan Gyulai Memorial meet also attracted attention, with Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas emerging as the winner.
- In the realm of sports beyond pole vault, tennis continues to be a captivating spectacle, with Stefanos Tsitsipas showcasing his skills and determination in various tournaments, earning him a significant following among tennis fans worldwide.
