Athletics: Duplantis breaks world pole vault record in Clermont-Ferrand

Paris (IANS) Swedish Armand Duplantis cleared 6.22 meters to claim victory with a new world record at the World Athletics Indoor Tour Silver meeting in Clermont-Ferrand.

The 23-year-old Olympic champion added one centimetre to his previous best of 6.21m which he nailed at the World Athletics Championships in Oregon last year on Saturday night.

At Clermont-Ferrand, Duplantis entered the competition at 5.71m and cleared that height on his first attempt, and then he secured the gold after clearing 6.01m with one attempt, reports Xinhua.

He then raised the bar to 6.22 metres, knocked the bar on the first two attempts, and succeeded on his third try. The record also marked Duplantis' 60th six-meter-plus clearance in his career so far.

Australia's Kurtis Marschall and Menno Vloon of the Netherlands finished second and third respectively. Czech Amalie Svabikova won the women's category with 4.66m.