World Record Pole Vaulter Gets Online Backlash for Not Representing USA

Swedish pole vaulter Armand 'Mondo' Duplantis, a Louisiana-born dual citizen, was the star of an electric scene at the Paris Olympics on Monday, August 5, setting a new men's world record of 6.25 meters. But some Team USA fans weren't so thrilled about it.

The 24-year-old Olympian, born to an American father, Greg, and a Swedish mother and heptathlete, Helena, was considered the No. 1 high school track and field recruit in 2018 before going on to dominate at LSU .

"Let’s stop this Mondo Duplantis is Swedish stuff. That man is from Lafayette. Ain’t no one from Sweden ever been to the all-you-can-eat Popeyes," one fan wrote .

Another added , "Absolute failure of American athletics that Mondo Duplantis wears a Swedish jersey."

"He's literally American. He competes for Sweden because his mom is Swedish and it meant he could bypass the US regulations," said another .

During a 2022 interview with Olympics.com , Duplantis' Swedish youth coach Jonas Anshelm admitted he "definitely wanted him in the team" and was the inspiration behind the decision to represent Sweden.

"His older brother Andreas represented Sweden in pole vaulting as well," Anshelm said. "I went via Facebook contacting Andreas, asking for the phone number of Greg, Mondo and Andreas' father, saying that I would like to have Mondo in the Swedish team. At that time, it was a 'no.' He wanted to represent the U.S. As a Swede, and maybe a bit stubborn and stupid, I thought, 'I may give him another call.'"

"What I did mention was that I was very happy if Greg would like to be in the national team as a coach. A couple of weeks later, Greg called me and said 'We're on.'"

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