Armand "Mondo" Duplantis. Louisiana boy. Arguably the greatest living athlete, competes for Sweden, where he links are, at best, tenuous. Who's responsible for this thumping failure that's constantly rubbed in America's face?
We know what you're trying to say here, but your fallacy is in thinking that the pole vault is of any significance to your typical American. Hint - it's about as meaningful as racewalking. And that's not a knock on Mondo, it's just that most people could not care less one way or the other.
It's meaningful to Americans when an American is winning. If it is meaningless - that says more about Americans.
Mondo vaulted high enough as a junior in high school to have secured bronze at the previous year's Rio Olympics
As a senior in high school at the Louisiana state meet (essentially an exhibition for him) he was only 2cm from the silver medal performance at Rio
Everybody in the T&F community has known for quite some time he was going to be the most dominant vaulter since Bubka
Not to say you aren't wrong that he did it to ensure an off-day or minor injury before/during the US olympic trials wouldn't keep him from the Olympics
I had heard Team USA wouldn't make his dad an official team coach, so Team Duplantis said ok no problem we'll go to a country that respects us
Team USA fumbled the bag on this one hard, whatever the actual reasons are
You got it twisted. Mondo fumbled the bag. He could have been part of the winning team dominating the medal count and relishing team camaraderie. Now he’s on the losing team that gets crushed every international competition. It’s like going from the Alabama football team to Rutgers. Bad move.
Pole vault is actually one of the most popular events among casual track fans (read: people who really only pay attention at olympics and maybe worlds) after the 100 because people love seeing them fly up so high in the air, so I think with the right marketing campaign, he could become a track celebrity in the US like Noah Lyles. However, Sweden, he will always be bigger than that and is guaranteed to make the team every year, so as much as I want him to represent America, it's a no-brainer from a practical perspective.
I'll tell you something else about pole vault. It is not only the stupidest, most niche event, it is the only event in recent decades where a FRENCHMAN has held a world record.
How low-competition can an event go? That's rock bottom. Frenchman with the WR. And a guy named DuPlantis is clearly of French descent too, so again what other event could Mondo win? No other event. Admit it to yourself and be happy. There is no other event he could have won at.
You got it twisted. Mondo fumbled the bag. He could have been part of the winning team dominating the medal count and relishing team camaraderie. Now he’s on the losing team that gets crushed every international competition. It’s like going from the Alabama football team to Rutgers. Bad move.
Lol - that is so far off the mark
USA won 34 medals. Other than Mondo, Sweden won 0. You’re right, calling them Rutgers was off the mark. They’re more like a D3 school.
Armand "Mondo" Duplantis. Louisiana boy. Arguably the greatest living athlete, competes for Sweden, where he links are, at best, tenuous. Who's responsible for this thumping failure that's constantly rubbed in America's face?
I'll tell you something else about pole vault. It is not only the stupidest, most niche event, it is the only event in recent decades where a FRENCHMAN has held a world record.
How low-competition can an event go? That's rock bottom. Frenchman with the WR. And a guy named DuPlantis is clearly of French descent too, so again what other event could Mondo win? No other event. Admit it to yourself and be happy. There is no other event he could have won at.
mondo decided to do a 100 meter race his senior year of high school for shts and giggles
first ever time he does it in high school: 10.57!
at the same age, though a junior in high school, Noah Lyles who specialized in the sprints obviously only broke 10.57 in two of his six 100 races; 10.56 and 10.47, with the latter coming in his last race of the season