Armand ‘Mondo’ Duplantis was named the Laureus World Sports Male Athlete of the Year after raising the men’s pole vault world record by one centimeter on three occasions last year.
Duplantis became the first track and field athlete to win Male Athlete of the Year since four-time winner Usain Bolt won in 2017. He broke his world record in the 2024 Paris Olympics to secure his second Olympic gold medal. Duplantis also won a gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
“I am incredibly honored to have won my first Laureus. This is the ultimate award that we athletes want to win. I know because this is the fourth time I have been nominated – and that proves it’s harder to win a Laureus than an Olympic gold medal,” Duplantis joked after winning the award.
The Swedish-American pole vaulter was born in Lafayette, Louisiana and attended Lafayette High School before attending LSU in 2019. While he only competed for one season at LSU, he claimed the 2019 NCAA Indoor and Outdoor men’s pole vault title and still sits at the top of the LSU record books for outdoor pole vault.
