Mondo Duplantis outclasses the event : The Swede became the Olympic and the World Champion, set consecutive World Records and makes winning look easy at almost every competition where he shows up. But that does not mean that his colleagues matter less.
Chris Nilsen from the USA has come to the stage as “the best of the rest” in the Men’s Pole Vault, clearly in the shadow of the great Duplantis. The 24-year old took silver at the Olympics in Tokyo and silver at the World Championships. Nilsen also belongs to the exclusive club of 6m jumpers. His 6,05m PB, set in Rouen last March, puts him 6th on the All Time list of the event. Last year Nilsen also finished in second place behind Duplantis at the Allianz Memorial Van Damme with an effort of 5,85m. Duplantis then set a new Meeting Record of 6,05m.
Renaud Lavillenie will also be on the runway at the Brussels DL. The 35 year old French is the former World Record holder (6,16m in 2014) and he still finished in 5th at the Oregon 22 World Championships with 5,87m. Belgian Ben Broeders finished 11th in Oregon with 5,70m.
