STOCKHOLM, Sweden -- Swedish pole vault star Armand "Mondo" Duplantis failed to win for the first time in 40 meets since 2023 at his home Diamond League event in Stockholm on Sunday.
Duplantis, 26, cleared 5.80 meters -- 0.51 lower than his latest world record -- but failed twice at 6.00 and once at 6.05. He has set the world record 15 times, with the current mark at 6.31 meters.
Kurtis Marschall of Australia won with a vault of 5.90, while Duplantis finished second.
″I felt a bit unfocused today," Duplantis told reporters. "You're either lucky in love or lucky in life, and the wedding is soon, so maybe it's a huge silver lining to the whole thing. ... Hats off to Kurtis, who beat me fair and square and I have no excuses."
It was Duplantis' first outdoor event of the year.
"It was time to lose," Duplantis told reporters. "It was a very long time. I can't fathom that I won 40 in a row. It's pretty sick, but it's also sick that I lose in Stockholm, which is the most important competition of the year for me."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
