Swedish pole vaulter Armand Duplantis has been named BBC Sports Personality’s World Sport Star of the Year for 2024.
Duplantis – more commonly known as Mondo – is regarded as the greatest pole vaulter of all time and enjoyed another record-breaking year in 2024.
The 25-year-old retained his Olympic title in Paris – becoming the first back-to-back champion in men’s pole vault since the 1950s.
In doing so, he broke both the Olympic and world record – the latter for the ninth time in his career, and second time this year.
He went on to break the world record again later in August, setting a new best of 6.26m at the Diamond League meeting in Silesia, and also won a second world indoor title and third European gold in 2024.
“I am so honoured to win the World Sports Personality of the Year award,” Duplantis told BBC One.
“I am so sorry I couldn’t be there. I am back here in the States and training for the up-and-coming season.
“This award really means a lot to me.”
The BBC World Sport Star of the Year was voted for by BBC Sport users.
Two Americans – gymnast Simone Biles and basketball player Caitlin Clark – plus Swiss wheelchair racer Catherine Debrunner, Dutch runner Sifan Hassan and French swimmer Leon Marchand were also shortlisted.
Duplantis set a new world record three times in 2024, first by vaulting 6.24m in April at the Diamond League meeting in Xiamen, China.
He went a centimetre higher in the Olympic final in Paris, as he finished 30cm clear of silver medallist Sam Kendricks.
And he went even higher – to the current record height of 6.26m – in Poland a few weeks later.
Duplantis is the second successive Scandinavian to win the World Sport Star award, following Norwegian footballer Erling Haaland in 2023.
Source: BBC
Recent Comments