by Alfonz Juck
Mondo Duplantis, photo by PhotoRun.net
BERLIN (GER): It appears Armand Duplantis’s 6.05m at the European Championships may be ratified as a US pole vault record as well as a Swedish one. This is because he has dual citizenship even though he has chosen to represent the Scandinavian country. “Pole Vault Power” notes on Twitter: “Current @usatf rules mean Mondo’s 6.05 will be ratified as the US record. Jeff Hartwig and I told everyone last December this would happen…” Swedish athletics statistician A Lennart Julin has called the scenario “illogical and unfair”, expressen.se reports.
RunBlogRun opines: This just smells. Mondo Duplantis has made it clear that he is competing for Sweden. Not sure why USATF wanta a PV record by an athlete not competing for the country. Why can’t USATF just fix the rule? I am not a doctor, but that sounds like the best action.
This is the article from the Swedish paper, Expressen.Se. https://www.expressen.se/sport/friidrott/han-kan-fa-sparken-for-att-ha-sagt-sa-dar/. In the article, which we translated, it says that USATF was warned by Jeff Hartwig that such a situation could happen. Apparently, the USATF legal beagles did not think it warranted any response. The Swedish paper suggested that the USATF person responsible should be released of their duties.
