Phil Cartwright
BBC Sport journalist
15 June 2025
Armand Duplantis broke the men’s pole vault world record for a 12th time with a clearance of 6.28m at the Diamond League meeting in Stockholm.
This one was extra special for the 25-year-old, however, as it was the first time he had improved the world best in Sweden.
Born in the United States, Duplantis – who is commonly known by his nickname ‘Mondo’ – represents his mother’s native country.
He had already secured victory in the event when he cleared the new record height at the first attempt before removing his vest, celebrating with friends and family, and taking the acclaim of his home crowd.
“I feel full to the brim right now,” said double Olympic champion Duplantis.
He had said before the event that breaking the world record in Stockholm “felt like the only thing missing” and “kind of a thing I can’t get off my mind”.
After achieving his goal, he said: “The first time I jumped in this stadium when I was 11 years old, it was rainy, cold and I jumped right under four metres. It was quite high for how young I was.
“They etch the names of world record holders here. It’s going to be really special to have my name etched in the stadium. It’s the most beautiful stadium, in my biased opinion.
“It’ll be one of the greatest memories for me, I think, in my career.”
Duplantis first broke the world record, then held by Renaud Lavillenie of France, in February 2020 with a 6.17m clearance in Poland.
On a memorable evening for the home crowd in the Swedish capital, Andreas Almgren set a European record to win the men’s 5,000m.
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‘I ran that all wrong’ – but Hunter-Bell claims stunning win
There was also British success on the track as Georgia Hunter-Bell finished strongly to claim victory in the women’s 800m in a time of 1:57.66.
Hunter-Bell was last with 200m to go, but overhauled all her competitors, including world champion Mary Moraa, with a sensational sprint finish.
“I ran that all wrong, making some bad decisions but the whole time I felt good so I knew I had something left,” said the 1500m bronze medallist at the Paris Olympics.
“I was stuck at the back for a bit long and then ran on the outside longer than I should have, but I did feel really strong and very good.
“I tried to find space on the inside that wasn’t there and I ran wide, but the 800m is all about positioning so I need to work from it.”
Britain’s world indoor champion Amber Anning was third in the women’s 400m in a season’s best of 50.17 seconds, while Dina Asher-Smith ran 10.93 seconds to finish second behind Olympic champion Julien Alfred in the women’s 100m.
Asher-Smith said: “Today was something to ask for, from running in Oslo three days ago, but I travelled well and the body felt good. So to run 10.9 low is really great, and it’s very exciting to be getting so close to my PB.”
British duo Innes Fitzgerald and Hannah Nuttall smashed their personal bests to finish third and fourth respectively in the women’s 3,000m, which was won by Australian Linden Hall.
Fitzgerald, 19, ran 8:32.90 to beat her fastest mark by more than seven seconds, while 27-year-old Nuttall finished in 8:33.82, more than six seconds quicker than her previous best.
Fitzgerald said: “I went into the race with no expectations and I think that is the best way to race. Sometimes I have let the pressure get to me a little bit, but today I was relaxed and I was determined to enjoy it. I absolutely loved every minute of it.
“This gives me so much confidence going forward. It shows where I belong and hopefully I can get into the big championship races.”
George Mills was fifth in the men’s 1500m, just three days after breaking Sir Mo Farah’s British 5,000m record in Oslo.
“Obviously I was looking for the win, but I came here on the back of a very good 5,000m in Oslo so I did what I came to do, which was to run fast with only a short recovery,” said Mills, who finished in 3:32.67, just over a second behind winner Samuel Pihlstrom of Sweden.
“It worked pretty well until the last lap or so when the legs started to get heavy, but I think it was a good couple of days’ work.”
Femke Bol of the Netherlands broke her own meeting record to win the women’s 400m hurdles in 52.11 seconds, while Kenya’s Olympic champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi ran 1:41.95 – the fastest time in the world this year – to win the men’s 800m.
In a star-studded final race, Rai Benjamin of the United States got the better of Brazil’s Alison dos Santos and Norway’s world record holder Karsten Warholm to win the men’s 400m hurdles in 46.54 seconds.
