Armand Duplantis finished second in the final behind Sam Kendricks after finishing 5.97 in the final and then tearing out at 6.02. The 19-year-old had to finish 6.02 to win gold.
During the finals, Duplantis was seen to change poles on several occasions. When he passed 5.92 and 5.97 he switched to larger and stiffer rods. But when he was over 6.02, there were no more rods to change.
- You can use a bigger and stiffer rod to get more power in the jump, explains dad Greg to SVT Sport.
It was among other things on the father's advice that Armand switched to a stiffer rod at 5.92, something Alhaji Jeng praised.
- A genius, says Alhaji Jeng.
But Greg doesn't think his son passed 6.02 with another stick.
- I don't think it mattered. I don't think we used a stiffer rod if we had one today. We have to prepare for the next season and there is no talk of fixing bigger rods until then.