Swede Mondo Duplantis made history by breaking the men’s pole vault world record for an eighth time, clearing 6.24 meters (20 feet, 5 inches) at a Diamond League meet in Xiamen, China on Saturday. He has followed in the footsteps of Ukrainian Sergey Bubka, choosing to raise the bar by the minimum one centimeter for all of his world records since his first in February 2020. Duplantis receives bonus money each time he breaks the record, with his next goal being to clear 6.25 meters and become the first man to vault 20 feet, 6 inches.
In other events at the Diamond League meet, Olympic gold medalist Jasmine Camacho-Quinn from Puerto Rico won the 100m hurdles in 12.45 seconds, narrowly beating Bahamian Devynne Charlton by four hundredths of a second. The race also featured world champion Danielle Williams of Jamaica and world record holder Tobi Amusan of Nigeria. Australian Torrie Lewis claimed victory in the 200m, crossing the line in 22.96 and edging out world 100m champion Sha’Carri Richardson. Richardson, primarily a 100m sprinter, was followed by several American runners who are strong contenders in the 200m event.
Chinese Olympic gold medalist Gong Lijiao won the women’s shot put with a throw of 19.72 meters, ahead of American Chase Jackson who finished third with 19.62 meters. American Shelby McEwen won the men’s high jump by clearing 2.27 meters, edging out co-Olympic gold medalist Mutaz Barshim of Qatar.
The Diamond League will continue next Saturday in Suzhou, China, with live coverage on Peacock from 7-9 a.m. ET.