The China Mail - Duplantis thrives on new home turf in Monaco

Duplantis had gone down on bended knee to beg meet organisers to include the men's pole vault in the programme for the 10th of 15 legs on track and field's elite one-day circuit.

They acquiesced to his request and the US-born Swede found himself up against five rivals at a packed Stade Louis II on Friday.

As often happens come competition, Duplantis soon found himself hogging the limelight as the other vaulters quickly fell by the wayside.

Duplantis bettered the meet record by 2cm to 6.07m, but failed with three attempts at 6.15m.

Getting anywhere near his world record of 6.31m set in Sweden in March was seemingly well out of the picture, notably on a raised runway that was bouncy on approach.

When the two-time Olympic and three-time world gold medallist takes to the track, the expectation nowadays from baying crowds is a world record showing, such is his total dominance of the event.

On his third failed attempt at 6.15m, Duplantis raised his head to the sky, disappointment etched all over his face.

But that temporary glitch, albeit coming after yet another dominant victory, soon turned to scenes of joy and adulation as he was cheered by a packed crowd.

"The competition fulfilled my expectations, the crowd over-exceeded my expectations," Duplantis said.

"It was maybe a little bit underwhelming in my own mind, in my own eyes, but I am trying to stay positive and trying to take only the positives away from it -- that I still came with the win and the meeting record.

"I think there was some more to give."

- Feel at home -

In a busy year, Duplantis not only moved to Monaco, but also got married to Swedish model and social media personality Desire Inglander.

"It was amazing to jump here, I am not going to complain," the 26-year-old said.

"It was very different. I do not think people even knew that we lived here and that me and my wife moved here.

"But I completely felt the crowd because the atmosphere and the energy towards me right now is way different that I have experienced here.

"They made me feel at home and I really appreciate that. This was a really special night, even if it was not my highest night."

Duplantis' first impressions of life in the Principality were overwhelmingly positive.

"This is an unbelievable place," he said. "The training is amazing and the federation and the organisation as well.

"Everybody has been so helpful and kind to me. And I have been having really, really good training."

Since first breaking the world record in Torun six years ago, Duplantis has single-handedly raised the bar, a demonstration of a stunning consistency that has seen him clear the 6.00m barrier for nine straight seasons.

Duplantis, who made his Diamond League debut in 2017, has insisted he still has the desire to compete in one of the most techically demanding events of track and field.

"As long as I like it and as long as I like the grind of everything, then I imagine that I'll continue to compete to jump," he said.

"As far as right now I feel like there's a lot of hunger and motivation still in the tank, so I think I'm going to be going for a while."

M.Zhou--ThChM