by Larry Eder
Reposted September 4, 2022
The Men’s pole vault is one of the most popular events in our sport. The three men in this story, Mondo Duplantis, Renaud Lavillenie, and Sam Kendricks (recovering from surgery), played huge parts in rebuilding the event in our sport. I thought that this would be a fun piece to peruse on a Sunday after your workout.
This story, originally written in July 2017 in Lausanne, Switzerland, is about how the stars of the Men’s pole vault saved the event. Originally posted July 18, 2017.
Reposted May 3, 2020
We just saw the Ultimate Garden Clash, where Mondo Duplantis in Louisianna, Sam Kendricks in Texas, and Renaud in France attempted as many clearances of 5 meters in 30 minutes (five-minute break at 15 minutes), Mondo and Renaud tied at 36 clearances, and Sam was at 26. Check out this piece from the Archives…
Mondo, Renaud and Sam, from DagenNyter. se
Reposted July 3, 2018
On the 4th of July 2018, there will be a street vault in Lausanne, Switzerland. These three vaulters will be there, with a fine field to celebrate the vault. Here’s a piece on these fine athletes and how the men’s pole vault has reinvented itself.
Reposted May 24, 2018
I liked this story so much in 2017 I am reposting it for the Pre Classic in May 2018. The men’s pole vault is one of the most popular events in our sport. The athletes are accessible, the event is sport and entertainment and the fans love it! Both the men’s and women’s PV are doing well in 2018. This piece gives you an idea of why the men’s PV will continue to excite fans, both old and new! I wrote this piece while I was in Lausanne in July 2018.
Updated July 20, 2017
Originally posted July 8, 2017.
Watch these three! Add in Pawel Wojciechowski, and Piotr Lisek, and you have the men’s pole vault traveling show. The pole vault has been very exciting this year, as Sam Kendricks soars over six meters, Mondo Duplantis clears 5.90 meters, and the only man who has cleared 6.16 meters, Renaud Lavillenie, builds himself back up, from injuries last fall. These guys are providing an entertaining show!
Sam Kendricks, Mondo Duplantis and Renaud Lavillenie held a great Lausanne presser, photo by PhotoRun.net
If terrestrial TV was smart and really pandering for ratings, they would adopt the men’s pole vault. Right now, we have some tremendous athletes from all over the world. I focus on the three above as an example of how athletes in an event take control of their own futures. Renaud Lavillenie is the world record holder, London gold medalist, and European champion. Mondo Duplantis is the new, young, talented vaulter on the scene, who is coming into the elite world with some control, and Sam Kendricks, the American champion, is a current Olympic silver medalist, newly minted six-meter jumper, and currently very hot on the Diamond League circuit.
Here’s is why they are getting it on promoting their event.
Track & Field is in a critical place. It will either get into the top ten sports viewerships on Global TV, or it will revert behind professional walleye fishing. It all depends on how the key players react. It is time to pull the proverbial heads out and look at sport quite differently.
The London World Champs should be quite good. But, as always, there will be some revelation around the event that will focus some media on the dirt in sports. Those are easy stories to do. The Fancy Bears pieces are cases in point. Easy to write about, easy to invade people’s privacy. No one speaks about the real intent of Fancy Bears: if the Russian system is bad, then let’s make sure everyone else is held to the same level, and quite frankly, some are not. Still, it is not right, in my opinion, to put out confidential files with “likely doping,” with no context, and in fact, where many, if not most, did not commit a doping offense.
Okay, now that is off my chest, here is what the men’s pole vault is doing well.
Renaud Lavillenie and Sam Kendricks, clowning around a bit, photo by PhotoRun.net
Renaud Lavillenie likes to compete. He is coming back from injuries that curtailed his jumping since last November. Yet, he shows his imperfect vaulting right now, one jump at a time. His 5.87-meter clearance in Lausanne was his best of the year, and Renaud is fighting back and will be jumping 5.93m to six meters by London Champs time.
Renaud Lavillenie, photo by PhotoRun.net
Why is Renaud Lavillenie special? The man has almost touched the sun! His world record of 6.16m is phenomenal. His next attempt split open his foot. Yet, without that fearlessness, without his love of the vault, we would not have the finest pole vault in the world in our sport.
His comments in the pressers, his time spent on Facebook revealing a bit of his life, and his fascination with speed and sports bring tons of fans to the sport.
Renaud Lavillenie and Sam Kendricks, sharing a laugh, photo by PhotoRun.net
Sam Kendricks is the US champion. He is also the world’s nicest guy. Who can not like him? But that is Sam. That is him, really.
Sam Kendricks, LausanneDL, photo by PhotoRun.net
What makes Sam Kendricks so special? His sincere interest in answering your questions. His discussion over clearing six meters and how Renaud respected him after he defeated Renaud in a vault competition were telling about both men.
He competes well, celebrates others’ jumping, and speaks with experience and knowledge about jumping six meters, his relationship with Renaud, and his admiration for the new young star, Mondo Duplantis.
Mondo Duplantis, Pre Classic, photo by PhotoRun.net
Mondo Duplantis? Where do we start? The young Swede/US-based young man is a world-class vaulter and seventeen-year-old, both at the same time. He is on social media, he speaks well and admires Renaud and Sam while competing with them. Mondo is the future of the pole vault, and his family allows him to be a young person as well as an elite athlete.
Why is this good for the sport?
Track & Field has so many good things, which are hidden behind some archaic structures, and groups fearful of change. Some are terribly afraid of change, as that change might destroy their power bases. But, the truth is, there is enough money and power to go around if we can figure out how to communicate this sport to 14-24-year-olds.
A healthy, vibrant, and financially successful athletics media is also a need, as young writers and young media have to be truly dedicated, as the ability to make a living is a true challenge. It is virtually impossible to make a living wage in the sport, with most athletics media trying to redefine itself in a sports world that demands immediacy, that demands accurate content but does not value the media enough to put a price on that content. For decades, stalwarts such as Athletics Weekly, Track & Field News, and regional running publications have kept the sports media thriving. The need for websites, blogs, and video is insatiable. The key is how to make a living from doing it? Some are charging for video and content programming. Is that a long-term or short-term solution? I am not sure yet.
Renaud, Sam, and Mondo will not answer all of the questions that are plaguing our sport, but they should be an example of how to approach an event and attract fans, new, old, and those yet to become addicted to the world’s oldest sport, athletics.
