Swedish pole vaulter Armand ‘Mondo’ Duplantis’ Olympics celebration left some viewers feeling a bit awkward and branding one interaction as like ‘Fight Club’.
Yesterday (August 5), the 24-year-old reached new heights, not only soaring over a 6.00 meter high bar and taking home a 2024 Paris Olympics gold medal, but then by flying over a 6.25 meter high bar, breaking a new world record.
Duplantis was up against the US‘ Sam Kendricks and Emmanouil Karalis from Greece, however, after soaring over a 6.00 meter bar he took the lead, Kendricks achieving a height of 5.95 meters, landing a silver medal and Karalis bronze with 5.90.
The audience at the Stade de France in Paris erupted even further after Duplantis took to the floor again and completed a bar at the height of 6.10 and later 6.25 meters.
And after not only winning gold but breaking the world record, the athlete rushed to celebrate, running to his girlfriend in the crowds to kiss her, before being flooded by his teammates.
A video shared to Twitter showed the moment he embraced another person wearing a Sweden top, with the pair ‘roaring’ at one another and ‘punching each other in the chest’ too – around six strikes being thrown.
However, the moment proved a bit too much for some Olympics viewers.
mondo duplantis and his teammate roaring and punching each other in the chest after breaking the pole vaulting world record 👀 pic.twitter.com/WWbc7FsEnF
— good engrams (@BenatarSeaOrg) August 5, 2024
A Twitter user wrote: “He looked ticked off after the 2nd or 3rd punch. Overkill after a tremendous win! Whyyyy???”
“What in the Fight Club?” another added.
However, others were quick to note the pair are actually brothers – with the man on the receiving end of many of Duplantis’ punches being LSU baseball player Antoine Duplantis.
And hey, it’s not everyday you win an Olympic gold medal or break a world record eh? I smell a hint of the green-eyed monster…
Duplantis later reflected on his historic win, as quoted by the Olympics’ website, stating: “I haven’t processed how fantastic that moment was. It’s one of those things that don’t really feel real, such an out-of-body experience. It’s still hard to kind of land right now.
“What can I say? I just broke a world record at the Olympics, the biggest possible stage for a pole vaulter.
“[My] biggest dream since a kid was to break the world record at the Olympics, and I’ve been able to do that in front of the most ridiculous crowd I’ve ever competed in front of.”
And, ultimately, as a Twitter user resolved: “Brothers gonna brother.”
