Mondo's WR and MOWA Tokyo

Broken Record

by Mark Cullen

Last night’s spectacular women’s hammer throw competition lived up to its billing; the men’s hammer final is tonight, with equal anticipation and excitement. I’ll discuss both in my next post, as they have one distinctive thread in common.

Hint: start practicing the words to “Oh, Canada.”

Even with the usual focus in my reports on the throws, the lead today has to be Armand “Mondo” Duplantis’ world record in the pole vault.

If Mondo’s story is getting to sound like a broken record, well, it is.

6.30 is the magic number this time – an astonishing height of 20’ 8”. A new world record. Or should we say the latest one, knowing how likely it is there are more to come?

After all, it’s his fourth WR of the year, and the 14^th of his career.

How high is 20’8”?

Fortuitously, two days ago I made my way to the MOWA (Museum of World Athletics) exhibition at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building #1.

MOWA Director Chris Turner has done another exemplary job of staging an exhibition which has meaning to casual as well as expert fans, and to a local as well as international audience.

Turner had the foresight to mark the women’s and men’s high jump and pole vault world records on the expansive walls of the exhibition space.

Given the fluidity of these events, Turner noted in the exhibition space the dates on which these records were set. Since the men’s pole vault world record depicted here was set on February 28, 2025, Duplantis has broken the record an additional three times.

Also engaging are the shot put, javelin, discus, and hammer throw interactive exhibitions. You can lift each of these implements – women’s as well as men’s – or you can try!

Attempting to lift these will give you a new-found appreciation of what the athletes accomplish and achieve.

If you’re far away from Tokyo and cannot attend, try picking up something that weighs approximately 16 pounds to give yourself an idea of what it might be like to attempt to throw a men’s shot 70’.

Mondo is a shoo-in for track and field male athlete of the year awards. He’s undefeated with four world records – it's hard to top that. The next time there is a world record by Mondo in the pole vault, it will probably sound like a broken record.

Because it is!

*Note: The MOWA exhibition is conveniently located for media members who are staying across the street at one of the two Washington-brand media hotels.

Yes, you can see his singlet as well!