New Delhi, March 9 -- On 28 February, in the small city of Clermont-Ferrand at the foothills of the French Alps, Armand "Mondo" Duplantis stood for a moment, looking askance at the crossbar that rose more than 20ft in the air above him. Then he propelled forward, an unwavering grip on the 15ft pole he held in his hands, his hair flying, legs pumping hard, eyes set with a predator's focus at the spot where he wanted to land the pole. 

And then there he went, jack-knifing and soaring through the air, clearing the crossbar like a diving dolphin, fists pumping even as he fell backwards towards the cushion, his mouth open in a roar matched by the crowds at the stadium. Duplantis had broken his own world record. For the 11th time. ...