Cathal Dennehy: Playing multi-sports in childhood can help form champions like Duplantis

“It’s really important to follow your passion, follow your gut, and if you really enjoy something, just dive right in to it.”

ELEVEN WORLD RECORDS: Sweden's Armand Duplantis competes in the men's pole vault final of the Indoor World Athletics Championships in Nanjing. Pic: WANG ZHAO/AFP via Getty Images

By now most people know the truth, or they should: if you want your child to grow up to become a champion, even in one specific sport, it’s better to expose them to a wide variety throughout their childhood.

There are exceptions to this rule, gymnastics and chess requiring a level of early specialisation if you’re to conquer the world, but generally, the wider the base of athleticism, the higher the eventual peak.