15. Mondo Duplantis Could Be Forced Out Of The Texas Relays
By Cory Mull, March 25
Stats: 46,930 reads
It's been a wild week for Lafayette (LA) High senior Mondo Duplantis.
And if the Louisiana High School Athletic Association has anything to say about it, it could get even wilder by weeks end.
This week, Mondo and his father, Greg Duplantis, learned that by competing in next week's Texas Relays, Mondo could be in jeopardy of losing his high school eligibility based on an ambiguous rule in the LHSAA's bylaws, which dictates that any individual athlete of a member school can't participate in an event unattached against competing schools, including collegiate or professional athletes or their teams.
Despite this, Mondo was still certain -- and willing -- to forgo his eligibility if it meant he would get the chance to compete against the best in the world at The Texas Relays. After all, as the top high school pole vaulter of all-time, there are only so few competitions in the United States where an athlete of his caliber could truly test himself.