This weekend, Mondo Duplantis competes at a Diamond League stop in Sweden in front of home fans, some of whom will have learned a great deal about the pole vault prodigy since his last outdoor Stockholm meet a year ago.
Peacock airs Diamond League competition in Lausanne, Switzerland, on Friday at 2 p.m. ET and in Stockholm on Sunday at noon ET (Stockholm is also live on CNBC, NBCSports.com/live and the NBC Sports app). CNBC also airs Lausanne highlights on Saturday at 1.
Duplantis’ presence in the Swedish capital is a main attraction. He is one of the faces of the sport, having broken the pole vault world record six times since February 2020. He lost just once in the last 22 months.
Duplantis is such a phenomenon that he is already the subject of a biopic.
“Born to Fly” is the passion project of Louisiana filmmaker Brennan Robideaux, who shadowed Duplantis from 2017 through the Tokyo Olympics. The documentary was released in Swedish theaters last Sept. 30. Robideaux partnered with Red Bull Studios after the Olympics. U.S. distribution is now sought for the film.
In an interview last October, the 28-year-old Robideaux described it as “a simultaneous coming-of-age story as it is a sports film.” He also summarized its origin as “a random act of will and stupidity.”
In 2017, Robideaux read in the local newspaper about a high schooler down the street who was breaking junior pole vault records. By then, Duplantis had already decided to represent Sweden, his heptathlete mom’s birth nation, rather than the U.S., where his professional pole vaulter dad was from.
“I remembered the last name, Duplantis, because everyone in our town knew of the family of athletes who built an entire pole vault pit in their backyard; we just didn’t know much about them,” Robideaux wrote in the “About” section of the Born to Fly website. “It was a light bulb moment. There was something magical about a kid embarking on a journey to be the best in something as obscure as pole vaulting. From the beginning, I thought of Mondo as a chess prodigy ... someone who excels in something so few understand.”
He obtained Duplantis’ phone number, pitched his documentary idea to the 17-year-old via text and got a reply: “I mean, sure I guess.”
Green light. Over the next four years, Robideaux, who knew little about pole vaulting, went from toting a camera to practice at Lafayette High School to capturing among his 400 hours maybe the most poignant moment of all from afar: Duplantis’ tearful release from his room on the morning of the Tokyo Olympic final (a scene edited from the film in a recent version).
Robideaux said he burned through savings, slept on floors and flew budget airlines wearing a trench coat to carry his equipment to save on baggage fees. All the while, his wife worked nights as a nurse back home.
Robideaux questioned his pursuit, especially when he traveled to meets where Duplantis lost.
“I remember in those days being so devastated for him, but also for me, which was so selfish, but I would just think, oh God, what if he doesn’t become what I think he can become?” he said. “Am I going to just have nothing?”
If he didn’t already know, Robideaux was reinforced when Duplantis broke the world record for the first time on Feb. 8, 2020. A month later, the Olympics were postponed by one year.
Come 2021, Robideaux chose not to go to Tokyo due to the pandemic restrictions (and the costs). He set up in Sweden during the Games, preparing for Duplantis’ homecoming. But he also convinced Duplantis’ dad to stuff a camera into one of his travel bags in the hopes that Duplantis might be able to do some filming of his own in Japan.
Robideaux was stressed out on the morning of the Olympic pole vault final, but knew it was crucial to capture Duplantis’ thoughts. Via Zoom from seven time zones away, he conducted an interview. Duplantis cried as he reflected on his parents’ sacrifices, such as his mom driving 20 hours to get him to a competition.
“I’m thinking, oh my God, he’s going to go compete in the literal Olympics in like three and a half hours,” Robideaux recalled. “I was very worried that I maybe set him off for failure, even though I knew that I captured something really incredible.”
Duplantis won Olympic gold and has since broken the world record four more times. In another virtual interview last month, the pole vaulter reflected on that morning in Tokyo.
“When I was just asked the question about my parents, I was already in more of an emotional state,” he said. “I just kind of thought about it in the moment. ... My parents and everything that they’ve done and for me, to be in the position that I was in, because I knew that later that night I probably had a good chance to claim Olympic gold. It was just pretty overwhelming.”
Here are this week’s Diamond League entry lists: Lausanne | Stockholm
Here are five events to watch between the two meets (aside from Duplantis in Sunday’s pole vault):
Men’s Shot Put -- Friday, 1:45 p.m. ET
Ryan Crouser is the top American who did decide to compete overseas a week before the USATF Outdoor Championships. He doesn’t have to worry about being rested for next week given he has a bye into August’s world championships as a reigning champ. At last month’s Los Angeles Grand Prix, he upped his world record to 23.56 meters and recorded three of the six best throws in history using his new Crouser slide technique. In Lausanne, he faces a field that includes the world’s third-ranked man, New Zealand’s Tom Walsh.
Women’s 800m -- Friday, 2:04 p.m. ET
Brit Keely Hodgkinson, the Olympic and world silver medalist, competes for the first time since breaking the British record on June 9. She’s headed toward a showdown with Olympic and world champion Athing Mu at August’s worlds. Mu isn’t in Lausanne, but world bronze medalist Mary Moraa of Kenya and Olympics fourth-place finisher Jemma Reekie of Great Britain are.
Women’s 100m Hurdles -- Friday, 3:13 p.m. ET
The third head-to-head this season between Olympic champion Jasmine Camacho-Quinn of Puerto Rico and world champion Tobi Amusan of Nigeria. Camacho-Quinn won the first two, but Amusan has been rounding into form after an early season injury. Nia Ali (2019 World champion), Alaysha Johnson (2022 U.S. silver medalist) and Tia Jones (third-fastest American last year) are also in the field ahead of USATF Outdoors.
Men’s 1500m -- Friday, 3:39 p.m. ET
Norwegian Jakob Ingebrigtsen is the headliner, coming off breaking the European 1500m record and the world two-mile record in his last two races. He is now the sixth-fastest 1500m runner ever at 3:27.95. He’d have to run 3:27.64 to break into the top five. He could be tested here by Ethiopian Lamecha Girma, who broke the 3000m steeplechase world record on June 9, and Olympic bronze medalist Josh Kerr of Great Britain.
Men’s Discus -- Sunday, 12:55 p.m. ET
The top six from last July’s worlds, led by 24-year-old Slovenian Kristjan Ceh. Olympic champion Daniel Stahl of Sweden is the only man to beat Ceh this year and is one of the meet headliners in Stockholm. Two weeks ago, Ceh launched a personal-best 71.86-meter throw to join Stahl in a tie for fourth on the all-time list.