The short answer
Mondo Duplantis vaults 6.31m on four durable principles: elite run-up speed carried all the way to the plant, a fast and powerful last three strides, an on-time plant where the pole hits the box as the takeoff foot lands, and a tall takeoff that loads the pole. Those principles, not his exact height, are what every vaulter trains. Speed only converts to height through good timing.
Key takeaways
- Run-up speed is the engine; world-class men hit the plant near 9.4 m/s
- The last three strides should be the quickest and most powerful of the run
- An on-time plant has the pole reaching the box as the takeoff foot lands
- A tall takeoff, hips up and top arm driving, loads the pole efficiently
- Roughly each extra 1 m/s of run-up has historically added about half a meter
- Compare your own approach and plant timing with AI video analysis
The principle first: the vault is a speed event that ends in a jump
Before the name, the principle. The pole vault is, at its core, a sprint that gets redirected upward. The faster you run and the better you deliver that speed into the pole at takeoff, the higher you go. Research on world-class vaulters is blunt about it: historically, each extra meter per second of run-up speed has added roughly half a meter of vault height for men. Speed is the engine. But speed without timing is wasted, which is why the plant and takeoff matter as much as the run. Mondo Duplantis is the current, clearest illustration of all of it, which is why his vault is worth studying even as the record keeps moving.
In March 2026, Duplantis cleared 6.31 meters at the Mondo Classic in Uppsala, Sweden, his 15th time breaking the world record, raising it a centimeter at a time from 6.17m in 2020. The genius is not one freak jump. It is a repeatable model.
Speed converts to height
In world-class male vaulters, horizontal velocity at the pole plant averages about 9.44 meters per second, and historically each 1 m/s of added run-up speed has produced roughly a half-meter gain in height.
Source: Frontiers in Sports and Active Living, pole vault kinematics (2022)
Principle 1: run-up speed, carried all the way in
Duplantis is one of the fastest runners in the event, and that is not a coincidence. The approach is where the energy of the vault is generated. World-class male vaulters carry horizontal velocity around 9.4 meters per second into the plant, and Duplantis sits at the top of that elite range. The lesson is that vault training is partly sprint training. A faster, more controlled runway gives the pole more to work with. But there is a catch that defines everything else: the speed only counts if you still have it at the plant. Decelerating in the last few strides, which nervous vaulters do, throws the speed away exactly where it matters most.
Principle 2: the last three strides are the quickest
Here is the most copyable cue in the whole vault. The last three strides should be the fastest and most powerful of the entire approach, not a gathering or a slow-down to set up the plant. Coaches describe this turnover as the moment the vaulter accelerates into the takeoff rather than braking into it. Most amateur vaulters do the opposite: they reach the end of the runway, get cautious, shorten and slow the last steps, and arrive at the box with less speed than they had at 20 meters out. Duplantis attacks the last three strides. That is what keeps his 9-plus meters per second alive into the plant.
Quickest at the end, not the middle
If your fastest part of the runway is the middle and you slow into the box, you are leaking the vault's entire engine right before takeoff. Train the last three strides to accelerate.
Source: CoachTube, Duplantis pole vault technique
Principle 3: the on-time plant
Plant timing is where speed becomes height or gets lost. An on-time plant has the pole reaching the back of the box at the same instant the takeoff foot lands, with the top arm driving up overhead. Plant too early and you stall the run; plant too late and the pole catches you behind your takeoff point, collapsing the jump. The research on the take-off phase shows world-class vaulters lose only about 1.6 meters per second of horizontal velocity through the plant, from roughly 9.44 down to 7.84 at takeoff, an efficient transfer. A late or soft plant bleeds far more. Duplantis's plant is famously precise, which is the real reason he converts his speed so well.
Principle 4: a tall, aggressive takeoff
The fourth principle is the takeoff position. Duplantis leaves the ground tall, hips high, top arm fully extended, takeoff foot roughly under or slightly ahead of the top hand, so the pole loads cleanly and his swing can be long and powerful. A short, collapsed takeoff, leaning back or jumping from too far under the pole, wastes the energy the run-up built. The tall takeoff sets up the swing-up and the clearance that follow. It is the hinge between the speed phase and the bar.
The four principles, and what to film
Each principle shows up at a specific point in the vault.
| Principle | Where it happens | What to check on film |
|---|---|---|
| Run-up speed | Full approach | Are you accelerating or drifting? |
| Quick last three | Final strides | Speeding up or slowing into the box? |
| On-time plant | At the box | Pole hits box as takeoff foot lands? |
| Tall takeoff | Leaving the ground | Hips up, top arm extended? |
Why this lasts no matter the record
Duplantis will likely break the record again, and a centimeter here or there does not change the lesson. Speed, the quick last three strides, an on-time plant, and a tall takeoff are how the vault works at every height, from a first 3-meter clearance to a 6.31 world record. He is the clearest current example because he does all four nearly perfectly. Learn the principles through him and the lesson survives whatever number is on the bar next.
Mondo did not find a secret. He runs fast, keeps the speed to the box, plants on time, and takes off tall. The secret is that he never wastes the run.
Track & Field AI coaching desk
Compare your own approach and plant
The four things that make Duplantis work are all visible on video, and all of them are where amateurs lose vaults. Film your vault from the side, ideally with a box angle too, the way how to film pole vault for analysis lays out, and upload it to Track & Field AI to compare your own approach speed and plant timing against the model. You will see fast whether you are slowing into the box, planting late, or collapsing at takeoff. Fix the earliest one first, because in the vault, like the sprint, early errors cascade.