In the early hours of June 8, 2026, at the Diamond League meeting in Stockholm, in the men's pole vault competition, world record holder Armand Duplantis suffered a shock defeat on home soil, ending his nearly three-year, 1,052-day unbeaten streak that spanned 40 competitions.
Australian athlete Kurtis Marschall won with a mark of 5.90 meters, becoming the only athlete in the past three years to beat Duplantis twice (the other occasion was at the 2023 Monaco meet). Duplantis and French athlete Thierry tied for third at 5.80 meters.
This was Duplantis's first defeat since the 2023 Diamond League Monaco meet. Faced with the loss, he admitted: "Marschall beat me. I lost fair and square — no excuses."He also admitted that todaywas a bit distracted and not in form; he really wanted to win the race in front of his family and fans, but in the end things didn't go his way, and the huge expectation of breaking the world recordmade the pressure on him obvious.。But there's good news: Armand Duplantis is getting married next week. There's a Swedish proverb: "Either you're lucky in competition, or you're lucky in love," and this time Duplantis chose the latter.We wish him well and also hope he can find his form again and once more push the limits of the sky!
Image: online/ Visual: Max
