Mondo Duplantis has turned breaking records into a habit. He’s raised the pole vault mark fourteen times since 2020. His 2025 season alone delivered four world records, with 6.30m being his last masterpiece. Now, with a fifth World Athlete of the Year title, he returns to a Diamond League venue he last visited seven years ago.

If you haven’t guessed the venue already, it’s London. Mondo Duplantis will enter the 2026 season at the Novuna London Diamond League on 18 July 2026. The event will be a one-day tournament, involving 15 disciplines across track and field. But the location has a special spot in Duplantis’ heart. The reason? He competed in his first-ever World Championships in London back in 2017.

“It’s been too long since I last competed in London. My first ever World Championships was at the Olympic Stadium in 2017 and although I was still pretty inexperienced, I could appreciate the incredible atmosphere, so it means a lot to me to go back.”

“There’s just something about that place,” he continued. “Every year I see athletes raise their game in the London Diamond League so I’m excited to get out there and use that crowd noise to my advantage. I’ve never won in London, so obviously that’s the main goal.”

The fanbase certainly expects him to break the 6.30m record that he set at the Tokyo World Championships. Additionally, with the trend that he has been following, we can definitely expect him to go beyond 6.30m, a record that has stood tall in London since Renaud Lavillenie of France made the jump in 2015. 

But there’s one more achievement that Mondo Duplantis is running after – matching Usain Bolt’s footsteps. 

Mondo Duplantis opens up about the pressure of following in Usain Bolt’s footsteps

Duplantis’s dominance has drawn comparisons to another track and field legend, star sprinter Usain Bolt, who also made a habit of breaking records. The star sprinter has often turned heads with his impeccable speed and back-to-back record breaks. This uncanny similarity to the Lafayette-born pole vaulter has caused his fanbase to put pressure on him to keep breaking records. And with a grin on his face, he emphasized that “pressure is a privilege.” 

“I understand that, and I get that, and I kind of put it on myself in a way, too, because I’ve been fortunate enough to break the world record quite a few times the past few years,” he told Olympics.com. “That just comes with the territory. It comes with what I’ve been able to do. I think it’s a good thing. It’s a good and luxurious problem to have, so I really shouldn’t be complaining too much about it.”

Nevertheless, as Mondo Duplantis steps back into London, the expectations will be sky-high. With records falling at his feet and Bolt-level comparisons rising, the stage is set. In 2026, the world won’t just watch Duplantis jump. It’ll watch him chase history again.