World Duplantis, the recordman of the jump with the auction: “I don’t look for perfection, but I try to be the best version of myself as an athlete”

When it is called Armand it hardly replies because that name is not his. He is called the world, Duplantis worldworld champion and two times Olympic sample of jumping with the auction, currently holder of the world record (6.27 meters, improved by 10 centimeters in 5 years, with the aim of reaching 6.30) and ready to exceed it already next season. World Duplantis was awarded as a sportsman of the year to Laureus Sports Awards of Madrid where we met him. «When I went to school I told the teachers that this was my name. He comes from Italian, my father’s best friend, in the USA, gave me his wedding witness. He called me world man. I did it, it’s a powerful name and I like his. Now it’s simply my name ».

Son of the American axleist Greg Duplantis, since 2015 he opted for his mother’s Swedish sports nationality, Helena Hedlund. Was the jump with the auction a obligatory choice?
«No, my brother played baseball on a professional level in the United States. He never loved the jump with the auction and chose his way. We were able to choose, but maybe I was genetically brought for the jump with the auction. I loved him immediately, since I was three or four years old. My mother loves the track and the race, my father is a lover of the jump with the auction like no other in the world. We always talk about this sport, but not me, always of others, of the emerging young people, of the girls who begin in this specialty ».

Both his parents are part of his staff. Are there any moments of difficulty?
«For many athletes it is difficult, but not for me and I can’t say why. For most people it is not a healthy situation. My parents have never been intrusive, even when Football at school. I think this is the reason why it works so well still now. My mother trains me: she is hard, but with a kind touch. My father does the whole technical part. We have an excellent relationship. I think I also count the fact that I have three brothers. There has never been a pressure just on me. I am at the center of the scene when I’m on the platform, but otherwise absolutely not ».

Do you feel the weight of sport as a job?
«I would say no, but I’ve never really had a job. I consider it a privilege. Even if it is hard and if it requires many sacrifices, a lot of work, many physical and mental training, still remains a privilege ».

The biggest sacrifice?
«The diet. In particular, before important appointments such as World Cup or Olympics, when you really have to remove the minimum extra weight. Sometimes they come to do things at the limit of greeting to go to the maximum for short periods. Then there is obviously the rest, the fact of having to leave friends at the best time of an evening when you just would like to stay to say nonsense with them. I try to find a form of balance and have fun: in short, I am always on a diet, but I am looking for my small ways to get rid of ».

Is the goal perfection?
«In a sense yes, but there is no perfection in sport. It exists only on paper. Last year (world record with the Olympic gold ed) it appears perfect, but it is made of ups and downs, difficulty, physical and mental stress to be in the best possible conditions at the Olympic games. Cerco is the best version of myself as an athlete “.

An individual sport competes more against himself than with others with whom he often celebrates after the race.
“We drink a beer after most of the races. Let’s talk about the race and more. With some we have always known each other, others have met them along the way. Let’s spend a lot of time together during the competitions that last five hours, we travel together, we are in the same hotels. Obviously we want to beat each other, but in a positive rivalry that has a form of camaraderie. Basically there is respect ».

Looking at his palmares you always see gold, rarely a silver or bronze. This is a form of perfection. Are space and motivations for new goals remain?
«Yes, without difficulty. It is a wrong idea that people often have when they think that being successful will remove motivations. As an athlete you want more and more ».

Has ever been the idea of ​​not being able to do something in his mind?
«No, there are moments in life in which you have more security than others, but I have always thought, since I started with the jump with the auction, which I would have been the best in the world. I have always believed it ».

Ready for the wedding (with Desiré Inglantnder, kissed immediately after gold and world record in Paris 2024 ed)? When will it be?
“Next year. Logistically there is still a lot to do, many preparations, but from an emotional point of view I am ready ».

How does the famous live?
«I find strange, a little unnatural to be recognized. In Sweden they know me of course, but elsewhere it is different: they are perhaps only that type of the Olympics. And in the end I don’t mind ».

It could be said that the world is his, he has it in the name.