Swede Armand Duplantis has bettered his own pole vault world record for the ninth time to cap a remarkable display in the Olympic final that was absurdly dominant even by his unmatched standards.
"What can I say? I just broke a world record at the Olympics, the biggest possible stage for a pole vaulter," Duplantis said.
Duplantis had the gold medal safely in his keeping with a first-time clearance at 6m.
He then raised the bar to 6.10m and promptly shattered the Olympic record at the first time of asking.
Not satisfied with that, Duplantis had the bar lifted all the way to 6.25m, which was 1cm higher than the most recent world mark he set in China earlier this year.
The 24-year-old known as "Mondo" narrowly missed his first two attempts at 6.25m before soaring over the bar with his third and final go, causing scenes of delirium at a packed Stade de France.
"I tried to clear my thoughts as much as I could, the crowd was going crazy and it was so loud in there, it sounded like an American football game," Duplantis said.
"Just trying to channel the energy everybody was giving me, and they were giving me a lot of it, it worked out."
It was the ninth occasion he had bettered a world mark, each time by 1cm, but the first occasion he had done it at an Olympics.
"My biggest dream since I was a kid was to break the world record at the Olympics and I've been able to do that in front of the most ridiculous crowd I've ever competed in front of," he said.
American Sam Kendricks (5.95m) won the silver medal, Emmanouil Karalis of Greece took the bronze (5.90m) and Australian Kurtis Marschall was sixth (5.85m).
“Mondo is an extraordinary jumper because of four factors,” said Kendricks.
“One, he’s got a great coach for a long time. He’s had a lot of time to do it. He’s got great equipment and understanding of the event. He’s a fan of sport, and he’s got God’s hand on his back.”
