In the annals of athletics, years of utter, unblemished dominance are rare. For Armand "Mondo" Duplantis, the Swedish-American pole vault phenomenon, 2025 was precisely that: a year of sporting perfection that has cemented his legacy as one of the greatest track and field stars of all time.
A Season Beyond Reproach
The statistics from Duplantis's 2025 campaign are staggering, bordering on the fictional. He broke the world record on four separate occasions, successfully defended both his world indoor and outdoor championship titles, and maintained a flawless competitive record by winning all 16 events he entered. This unprecedented haul was crowned with him being named World Athletics' Male Athlete of the Year and the BBC's Overseas Sports Personality of the Year.
"There's not necessarily such a thing as a perfect season," Duplantis mused during an interview in Monaco in December. After a thoughtful pause, he conceded, "But that's as perfect as it can get." His performances transcended mere winning; they became a spectacle of physics-defying artistry, each clearance leaving audiences breathless as he soared over bars approaching the height of a typical British house.
The Viral Moment and Life in the Spotlight
While his vaulting is consistently extraordinary, it was a moment of raw, human emotion that catapulted Duplantis to a new stratum of global fame. At the 2024 Paris Olympics, after shattering his own world record, he sprinted across the track to passionately kiss his fiancée, model and content creator Desire Inglander. The clip exploded across social media, transforming the athlete into a mainstream celebrity.
"Night and day," is how Duplantis describes the change in his public recognition. "It's all the time. I feel like there are so many people that know me without even knowing me." He insists the celebration was entirely spontaneous. "It wasn't planned. It just happened. That's probably why it went so viral. People could feel how pure it was... a pure moment of passion, success, glory and love, all at the same time."
He replicated the feat at the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo, sealing another world record—a 6.30m clearance—with another celebratory kiss for Inglander.
The 'Claw' and Chasing 6.40 Metres
Duplantis's relentless pursuit of height is aided by relentless innovation. A key tool in his record-breaking year was a custom-designed shoe he nicknames 'the Claw', featuring a spike protruding from the front for enhanced grip and speed on the runway. "It's simple physics," he explains. "Energy in and energy out. If you can put more energy in and you're faster, then you create more energy to get it out."
He reveals that a faster, Mark II version is in development, a project he leaves to "crazy science maniacs" like 400m hurdles world record holder Karsten Warholm and his coach, Leif Olav Alnes. Duplantis believes this technology is pivotal to his ultimate goal: clearing 6.40 metres. At just 26 years old, with 14 world records already to his name, the prospect of a further decade at the top seems entirely plausible.
Ambitions Beyond the Pit
Fears of running out of worlds to conquer are dismissed by the Swede. "The hunger and the motivation is 100% still there," he asserts. His ambitions, however, are expanding far beyond the runway. He is cultivating a serious second career as a music artist, with his first two singles, 'Bop' and '4L', amassing millions of streams on Spotify. A third is due in January, and he is rumoured to be performing the official song for the 2026 World Athletics Ultimate Championship.
"It's truly an escape for me from athletics," Duplantis says of his music. "I have a very obsessive attitude... I find myself getting a few missed texts from Desire asking where I'm at." This new passion has temporarily sidelined another—golf, at which he plays off an 11 handicap.
Looking further ahead, Duplantis even entertains the idea of a future in sports governance. "I'll be the new Seb Coe," he says with a smile, only half-joking. "The older I get, the more keen I am... I want to grow track and field as much as I can. By the time I'm in my 40s, I think I would be in a good position to help this sport."
For now, though, the dessert of his career is still being served. With his wedding on the horizon and the bar ever-rising, Mondo Duplantis's story of perfection is far from over.
