At the World U20 Championships last month in Finland, he was a man among boys. In the qualifying round, he didn't enter the competition until everyone else had already been eliminated or qualified. Then in the final, there were only three other guys left when he took his first jump. He made it easily, passed the next height, and won the gold medal by being the only person to clear the one after that. That height was 5.60 meters (18'4 1/2). Since he was the only one left, he moved the bar to a championship-record 5.82 (19'1)...and cleared that on his first attempt!
Fast forward to the European Championships last week in Berlin. In the non-Olympic year, the European Championships is the biggest meet on the world calendar, so some pretty big names were there, including world record-holder Renaud Lavillenie of France. He could certainly contend for a medal against this field, but he couldn't possibly win, right? Wrong! Mondo jumped 6.05 (19'10 1/4) to win the gold and set the world under-20 record.
How good was that jump? It was much more than a world under-20 record and the top mark in the world this year. It equaled the second-highest outdoor pole vault EVER! Combining indoor and outdoor, he's now tied for the fourth-best performance in history. At 18! He shouldn't be going to LSU (at least not to compete). He should be going pro.
Here's where this story takes a weird turn, though. Mondo Duplantis is from Lafayette, Louisiana (hence his decision to attend LSU). However, since his mother is Swedish, he's eligible to compete for Sweden internationally, which he has for several years.
You still with me? Good. Because here comes the crazy part. His world under-20 record was one centimeter higher than Brad Walker's American record. And, since Mondo is an American citizen, his 6.05 jump counts as an American record. So, somebody representing Sweden at the European Championships set an American record! If this makes any sense to you, please let me know and maybe you can explain it to me.
Nothing in the USATF Rule Book prevents this ridiculous scenario, so Duplantis' mark will most likely be ratified as an American record when they meet in December. (I repeat, he'll have set the American record while competing for Sweden, and this somehow makes sense to people.)
This was actually brought up at the USATF Congress last year, but they dismissed it as unlikely. Now USATF just looks stupid, so don't be surprised if a new rule is put in place stipulating that in order to set an American record, you can't do it while representing another country (in other words, it will be dictated by common sense).
The new rule wouldn't go into effect until January 1, though, and can't be applied retroactively. So, Brad Walker's record is as good as gone and it'll be up to Sam Kendricks (also a six-meter jumper) to bring the American record back to someone with an American flag next to their name.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying Mondo isn't an American. He's lived in Louisiana his entire life. But, as a dual citizen, he had a choice of which country to represent, and he chose to represent Sweden. Once that decision was made, his ability to set an American record should've been lost. Because it's just silly that he could set it at the European Championships when the U.S. isn't even a part of that continent!
Dual citizens are slightly different than citizenship changes, which are nothing new, but the same basic principles apply. Bernard Lagat switched from Kenyan to American citizenship in 2004. Since Kenya doesn't allow dual citizens, he represented Kenya at the Athens Olympics and didn't start representing the United States until 2005. However, since he was a citizen, he was technically eligible to set an American record. Lagat ran faster than the existing American record in the 1500 meters just before the Athens Olympics, but it wasn't ratified by USATF. Why not? How is that any different? (Lagat's official American record, set in 2005, is nearly two seconds slower.)
What makes this situation even more ridiculous is what happened in the men's 4x400 relay at the NCAA Indoor Championships. Texas A&M set the world record in the event despite finishing second to USC. How is that possible? Because USC's time was ineligible for a record since not all four runners were from the same country. Except they were. The athlete in question is Rai Benjamin, who was born in the Bronx, but previously represented Antigua & Barbuda (where his parents are from). He's even been granted a release by Antigua & Barbuda so that he can represent the U.S. moving forward. Yet that was enough for the IAAF to declare second-place Texas A&M as the record-holders (although USC is listed on the IAAF website, so I don't know anymore).
While that's just as ridiculous, I can kinda see the IAAF's point there. That problem was magnified because they were wrong about Benjamin's citizenship. But if they weren't and the team was actually composed of athletes from different countries, I'd have no issue with their stance.
That stance should be consistent across the board, though. Because it makes absolutely no sense that a guy who'll be representing Sweden for years can continue to set American records while doing so. I'm not taking anything away from Mondo Duplantis. He's an incredible talent. But he's chosen to compete for Sweden. And you should only be able to set records for the country you represent.
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