Do we like them?

Do we like Mondo Duplantis?

Our score: 7 out of 10. Clean on harm and no scandals of any kind, but the record of him standing up for others is thin.

Mondo Duplantis was born in Lafayette, Louisiana, and competes for Sweden, his mother's country. He started vaulting at three on a homemade setup at the family home, where a neighbour's brick garden wall sat uncomfortably close to the landing mat. That backyard apprenticeship is the whole origin story: a kid who wanted to be the best and never really stopped.

The arc since is ridiculous. He won Olympic gold in Paris in August 2024, lifting the world record to 6.25m on the night. In March 2026 he cleared 6.31m at the Mondo Classic in Uppsala, a meet named after him, for his 15th world record. He did it with no failed attempts, and the mark was subject to ratification.

The latest chapter had a wobble and a win. He pulled out of the Diamond League final in Brussels in early September, ending his run at a sixth straight trophy, and said “It breaks my heart. I hate this so much.” A week later he won the pole vault at the Ultimate Championship in Budapest with 6.20m, then took a crack at a world record that didn't come off.

On the harm check, the cupboard is bare in a good way. Searches for anything he has said or done about LGBTQ+ people, women, migrants, climate or public health turned up nothing harmful, and no campaigns or dodgy co-stars. The closest thing to a political comment was when a Swedish paper asked about Donald Trump in 2025 and he said he avoids the topic because he feels stupid talking about things he doesn't know much about, while hoping it turns out well for Sweden. That's a shrug, not a stand, so he gets a pass rather than a medal on this one.

On the good-person test, there are no scandals, lawsuits or accusations in anything we found. In April 2020 he put his bib from the Polish meet where he set a world record up for auction, with proceeds going to a Swedish radio fundraiser for the fight against the coronavirus. In interviews he comes across as a competitor who knows he's not Usain Bolt and doesn't pretend to be.

Honest gap: this is an athlete who talks about vaulting, not causes. We found no big public stands for LGBTQ+ people or the planet, so he doesn't earn the top marks that come with using a platform for others. What we did find is clean, so we'd happily cheer for him.