Duplantis fulfils childhood dream with world record to win Olympic gold

Coached by his American father Greg, a former pole vaulter, Duplantis is a product of a track and field-crazy family which had their own vaulting apparatus in the garden. They were all present in the stadium and it was to them that Duplantis hurtled after sailing over 6.25 metres with no "pre-canned nonsense". "That's just overflowed with emotions, freaking out," said Duplantis, the new record improving his previous best by 1cm in front of a delirious 69,000-capacity crowd at the Stade de France on Monday night.