Armand ‘Mondo’ Duplantis was 12 years old, standing on the mat, waiting to make history.  He did start on the journey by managing to jump 3.97 meters in an indoor competition in Sweden. After that, there was no looking back. Less than 8 years after Lavillenie’s 2012 Olympic success, Duplantis broke the Frenchman’s world record with a 6.17m vault in Torun. Today, he is a two-time Olympic champion at 25. So it’s safe to say he knows how it feels to break the records of veteran stars. However, another young athlete got a taste of the same glory as Mondo. Here’s how…

The 12-year-old Ukrainian Matvii Strohalev shattered Mondo’s record from when he was the same age as Strohalev. At the Ukrainian Youth Athletics Championship held in Lviv, Strohalev achieved a height of 4.00 meters, making a new record and breaking Mondo’s indoor record from the past. Jumpers.World decided to share the iconic video on Instagram. And the caption read, “12-year-old Ukrainian athlete. Matthew Strogalev impresses with a 4.00m pole vault clearance!”

The veteran Swedish vaulter was impressed by the news and expressed his verdict as well. As per RBC Ukraine today, he said, “This is incredible. Yaroslava Mahuchikh showed me the video. I was really happy to see it. I was once that young, eager to become the best in the world. I wanted to be the best and break timeless records. And he is like that, maybe even a little better. I hope he keeps progressing. And maybe, if I keep vaulting long enough, we’ll compete against each other.” 

Mondo broke the pole vault record for the 12th time in the Stockholm Diamond League meet with 6.28m on Monday, and this was a pretty bittersweet one for him. Why? Well, the last time he stood on his home soil breaking a record was when he was 11 years old. More about that later. But at present, people seem to be talking about the 12-year-old Matthew Strogalev more!

Fans shocked after 12-year-old breaks Armand Duplantis’ record

Duplantis has set a personal best yet again for the 12th time now. The 25-year-old impressed his home crowd with a 6.28 pole vault jump at the Stockholm Diamond League. But fans are stuck on Strogalev starting on his pole vault journey, breaking the record of one of the veterans. A follower said, “Hurray, so good”, while another chimed in, “This passion we like to see.” Another netizen quipped, “Mondo has been real quiet since he dropped,” although the legendary athlete did comment on this as seen above.

Guess what, Mondo does not just break records but also has another passion! Just after setting a new milestone at the Stockholm Diamond League, he took to Instagram to share the same. “I’m going to release a song in two weeks,” he revealed. “It has nothing to do with setting the World Record right now, it just happens to be that way.” A song? Yes! This is also not his first rodeo as a musician.  Duplantis’s debut single “Bop” had charted at #31 on the Swedish singles chart back in February. And now he is ready to vault up the music world with “4L”, short for “For Life”.

One follower said, “He’s born ready,” while another commented, “Well, I guess Mondo’s streak will have to come to an end eventually.” Now, who is this 12-year-old star? You must be curious! Strohalev hails from an illustrious sporting family. His mother, Anzhela Balakhonova, was a silver medalist at the 1999 World Championships. His father, Vadym Strohalev, was a finalist at the World Championships and a participant in the 2004 Olympics. Now he works as a full-time coach. He has greatness in his blood clearly! 

One follower was stunned and said, “He broke @mondo_duplantis’ age record.” Another fan said, “Better than Duplantis at the same age.” Well, is that true? Duplantis did make a pretty impressive indoor record himself. From 2007 to 2012, he had some best records at his age according to Wikipedia. And this time, the 25-year-old broke another record in Stockholm. After achieving his goal, he said as per BBC.com on 15th June: “The first time I jumped in this stadium was when I was 11 years old, it was rainy, cold, and I jumped right under four metres. It was quite high for how young I was.” Looks like a full moment for him. Maybe one day, Matthew Strogalev can also see the same things that he is Mondo’s age!