SUZHOU, China, April 26 (Xinhua) -- Sweden's pole vault sensation Armand Duplantis is looking to refresh the world record at the second meeting of the 2024 Diamond League here on Friday.
Having improved his own world record by one centimeter to clear 6.24 meters at the opening meeting of the 2024 Diamond League in Xiamen, China last Saturday, Duplantis was the center of attention at the press conference at the Suzhou Olympic Sports Center.
"It's been pretty chill. Mentally I've been more on a cloud nine compared to your average competition," Duplantis said Friday. "I know I'm in really good shape. But you never know if the technique is going to match up to your form coming on."
"Every time I step on to the track, I try to get the most out of myself. I'm going to jump as high as I possibly can," said the 24-year-old, who has improved the world record eight times since clearing 6.17m at the Orlen Copernicus Cup in Torun, Poland in 2020.
"I know I can jump really high right now, and I'm expecting similar results [in Suzhou], as long as conditions and everything is as good as I think it's going to be," he added.
With just months away from the Paris Olympic Games, Duplantis admitted that the bigger the competition is, the more energy he gets, adding "Of course, it's an Olympic year and all the competitions leading up to the Olympics feel extra important; you bring extra intensity to the track."
"I'm going to continue jumping as high as I possibly can. If I can jump higher tomorrow than last week, that'll be super-slick." ■
