Pole vaulter Armand Duplantis clears 6.15 meters, wins in Lausanne

LAUSANNE, Switzerland -- Armand Duplantis cleared 6.15 meters on his third and final attempt Wednesday in his first pole vault competition since setting a new world record at the Paris Olympics.

The 24-year-old Duplantis cleared the height in a pop-up venue circled by 5,000 fans, despite strong gusts of wind blowing in off Lake Geneva.

Two weeks ago, the athlete known as "Mondo" was like a rock star in the 80,000-seat Stade de France as he soared over the bar at 6.25 meters (20 feet, 6 inches) to break the world record for the ninth time.

On Wednesday, he cleared 6.00 with ease on his first attempt after taking a pause to let the breeze pass. No other competitor got above 5.92, the best height cleared by runner-up Sam Kendricks, the Olympic silver medalist from the United States.

The less-than-ideal conditions meant there was no attempt at a 10th world record leap of the American-born Swede's standout career.

"I need perfect conditions if I'm going to be able to jump the world record again this year," Duplantis told reporters. "It was really good today, really amazing energy and atmosphere. You get such a cool connection with the crowd when they are so close to you."

Still, it was a best mark for the storied Athletissima meeting and an appetizer for the full Diamond League meeting on Thursday featuring a host of Olympic medalists.

Dozens of fans pulled out their mobile phones to film the star attraction when he entered the competition with the bar set at 5.62. That was cleared with ease, as was 5.82 and 5.92.

"You get to put a face on the people and you see how passionate they are," Duplantis said of the city-center event staged to bring the sport closer to fans. "I see how excited they are that I'm here and they want me to jump high. They're pushing for it."