The 2017 T-Mobile Game Changer of the Year Award


Mondo Duplantis
SWEDEN, Pole Vault
The pole vault prodigy.

Accolades:

  • The 17-year-old owns seven age group world records in the pole vault, including his lifetime best of 19-4.25 ft/5.90m at the Texas Relays.
  • Placed 9th at the 2017 World Championships in the pole vault.

Snippet From: Mondo Destroys Pro Field, Breaks World Junior Record By 10cm

Mondo Duplantis cleared 19-4.25/5.90m at the Texas Relays to break the world junior record in the pole vault by an astonishing 10cm. He also blew the doors off a professional field that included reigning IAAF world outdoor champion Shawn Barber of Canada, who managed just 18-0.5/5.50m today.

The prior world junior outdoor record was 19-0.25/5.80m, held jointly by Maksim Tarasov and Raphael Holzdeppe. Duplantis did perform better than that indoors, as he cleared 19-1/5.82m to win New Balance Nationals in March. Duplantis is now in the realm of senior athletes, where he ranks No. 1 in the world this year and No. 38 all-time. That mark would have been the fifth-best in the world last year, an impressive feat considering that 2016 was an Olympic year.

A performance of 5.90m or better is often enough to win the senior level IAAF World Championships title, though it must be noted that the 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games were won with a higher clearance.


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For the past decade, FloTrack and MileSplit has traveled the planet covering our sport and seen up close what a struggle it can be to compete at the highest level. These individuals are some of the best in the business, and they continue to inspire and change the game. To support their success and in hopes they continue to do great work, we're announcing the T-Mobile Game Changer of the Year Award. Later this year, one athlete will win $7,000 to help continue their journey of changing the game.