6.30m world pole vault record for Sweden's Mondo Duplantis in Tokyo‼️ - World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25

Mondo Duplantis hits new heights with ‘Claw’ after 14th pole vault world record

Swede clears 6.30m to claim gold in Tokyo
Shoes with metal spike enable faster run-up

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/sep/15/mondo-duplantis-hits-new-heights-claw-after-14th-world-pole-vault-record-athletics



The pole vault competition was two hours and 20 minutes old when Mondo Duplantis finally got serious at these World Athletics Championships. The bar had just been raised to six metres. So Mondo reached into his kitbag and dug out the Claw. It is his weird looking special shoe, with a spike protruding from the front of it like a medieval torture implement – and the 25‑year‑old Swede takes it out only on those occasions when he sniffs a world record in the air.

At this point five men were still jousting for the world title. But after Duplantis had breezed clear at 6m, 6.10m and 6.15m his eighth consecutive global title – and a $70,000 (£51,000) first prize – was secured. Now history was calling. There was a nod to the official, the bar was pushed to 6.30m, and there was a 14th world record to chase.



Duplantis uses the Claw shoes because it means that in his 20 strides he can get up to speed quicker, plant the pole faster and soar even higher – providing the technique is right. “Whenever I think that I have a chance to break world records I do bring out the Claw,” Duplantis said. “I don’t do it every time, but when it comes out, then you know it’s business time. I can really feel the benefit from the very beginning of the running, and the way that I’m able to push the first few steps and build up speed.”

Duplantis does not wear it all the time, however, partly because the first version, introduced last year, had a metal spike that would lacerate his hand or arm on the way up. Nowadays the spike is not so sharp, according to Puma’s vice-president of innovation, Romain Girard. “In the latest iteration we have, the claw is actually a kind of a little condom, or kind of a shell made of rubber,” he said. “So it makes sure it protects him.”

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