IT’S NOT UNCOMMON for the AOY to also nab POY honors, which Mondo Duplantis did. But while it’s not unheard-of, it is uncommon for stars, no matter how super, to receive votes for 3 different performances. But Mondo is anything but common and the nonpareil vaulter scored a trifecta, with performances 1, 4 & =14. He previously won the POY crown in ’22
The 20 performances which received recognition in our 5-4-3-2-1 scoring system:
1. Mondo Duplantis’s 20-6/6.25 WR, 68 (9 No. 1s)
Another anomaly: an athlete’s fastest/highest/longest mark of the year isn’t adjudged to be their best. That’s the unusual category into which Mondo’s POY falls. The mark was his second of three WRs. “What made it special, he said, “was that at the same time it won Olympic gold. It also came with the highest drama, on third attempt. “What can I say? I just broke a World Record at the Olympics, the biggest possible stage for a pole vaulter.”
2. Jakob Ingebrigtsen’s 7:17.55 WR, 66 (6)
Daniel Komen’s 3000 WR of 7:20.67 had achieved legendary status, stretching back as it did all the way to ’96. “I was hoping to challenge the World Record here,” said Ingebrigtsen after crushing that mark at the Chorzów DL, “but I would not have imagined I could run 7:17, though. 3000 is a tough distance: after 4-5 laps you feel the lactic acid, but you need to get going. The conditions were difficult with the heat today.”
3. Mondo’s 20-6½/6.26 WR, 51 (3)
20 days after his eventual POY mark, Mondo was at it again in Chorzów, where thanks to Ingebrigtsen he didn’t even get the best mark of the meet. “The conditions today were perfect,” he said following his third WR of the year. “This year I focused on the Olympics; the record just came naturally because I was in good shape. So I am not surprised with the record today, but I am thankful. It is just about being in good shape and believing you can do it.”
4. Mykolas Alekna’s 243-11/74.35 WR, 39 (3)
The winds were howling in Ramona, Oklahoma, in mid-April. The max reading at Tulsa International Airport, 28M (45km) down the road, hit 26mph (11.6mps). Just the kind of optimal breezes that had been enjoyed by East Germany’s…
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