Duplantis achieves new heights after pole vault world record adds to gold

Swede wins successive Olympic gold, then clears 6.25m.

Armand Duplantis, of Sweden, competes in the men's pole vault final at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, in Saint-Denis, France. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Finally, Mondo Duplantis has the spotlight. 

The formalities on the track have been dispensed with, Keely Hodgkinson has won her gold medal, Noah Lyles has been awarded his, and for the first time this evening all eyes are on a 24-year-old from Sweden via Louisiana, the bar suspended 6.25m high and the still, warm air between them.